Breaking the Rules
by kmd0107
Summary: Florist AU Prompt Fic. Logan is a florist. Veronica is a journalist with a secret admirer...stalking and sexy hijinks ensue. LoVe story.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This little AU is dedicated to Darlinginmyway who posted a fun AU list over on Tumblr and then when I wrote a few sentences encouraged me to write more with the help of many fun gifs! As it started to take shape I realized that one of the April vmficrecs prompts actually worked so this first chapter is also for Option Seven - Today's Inspirational Quote: 7C "You are remembered for the rules you break." Douglas MacArthur. And finally thanks to BryroseA for her fantastic betaing skills and helping me hashout where this is all going!

A/N update: Beautiful cover art by the incomparable Lilamadison11 over on Tumblr. If you haven't seen her work you are seriously missing out!

* * *

"It's really sweet of you to bring me flowers, but usually in here it's the other way around." The florist looked at the arrangement, apparently recognizing his work. His bland smile turned to a frown after a quick glance up at Veronica and he scoffed and let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny? You made the damn thing." Veronica pointed out.

"Well, it's just, you know, this is all wrong. You don't give a beautiful woman—like you—this kind of arrangement, this is the sort of thing you give your grandmother or great-aunt. No, if I'd known who this arrangement was for…" He looked at her and shook his head.

"If I'd know it was for _you_, I'd still have sold the guy this arrangement but then I'd have made you a very different one. And I would have put my phone number on the card, not some creepy quote. I mean really who says this kind of thing: _'You are a cinema, I could watch you forever'_." The florist laughed.

Veronica narrowed her eyes at the handsome florist, "Your phone number _is_ on the card."

"Yes, but if these were from me I'd have given you my personal number, not my business one. Like this." He reached below the counter and pulled out a thick piece of card stock and a felt-tipped pen. His looping script filled the small card. Before he handed it to her he reached out and snatched a deep red blackout lily and, with a flourish, presented it along with the card to Veronica.

"Wow, you do this a lot?" Veronica asked, unimpressed.

"A time or two." He smirked back at her.

Veronica looked down at the card. _Logan Echolls_. The name was familiar. He had given her his phone number and email address—_how modern of him_—and below that he had written another name. _Stanley Peters. Who the hell is Stanley Peters?_

"What is this?" She asked.

"My name and number. And that—" His long tapered finger tapped the second name, "Is the name of the guy who bought that arrangement."

"So you're hitting on me and giving me the name of my secret admirer?" Veronica looked at him flummoxed.

"Yes, I most definitely am," Logan smiled appreciatively at her, "I'm not afraid of a little competition. Anyway, you came here to solve a mystery and I can't resist a good intrigue. So do you know this guy?"

"I don't think so." Veronica twirled the lily back and forth between her fingers, watching the black spots in each petal move in and out of focus. She looked around the room and noticed two cameras. "Do those work?"

Logan followed her gaze. "Yeah, you wanna see if we can find a good shot of the guy? I can pull it up on my laptop." His offer was cut short as the bell on the door jangled and Logan frowned, "Can you give me a minute?"

Veronica nodded and picked up the small card that had been with the flowers she had received at work that morning. It was the same as the note card that the florist, Logan, had just given her. The handwriting was block print and unfamiliar. She compared it to Logan's writing but didn't think it was likely that he had written them both. Veronica glanced at her watch and saw that she really needed to get back to the office. It was only her second week at her new job and being late to a staff meeting didn't seem like a good idea.

She made eye contact with the florist and he quickly excused himself from the customer.

"I have to get back to work but could I stop by this evening? You're open until six?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, why don't you come by at six-thirty? I'll be all closed up and we can look at the video without interruption." A sexy smile crossed his face, "Maybe I can convince you to have dinner with me."

Veronica gave him an appraising look, he was handsome and the fitted button down he wore showed off broad, defined shoulders. And she had to admit the mischievous glint in his eyes had her curious about what was going on behind them.

"Hmmm…Maybe." Veronica involuntarily licked her lips thinking of having some private time with the fine-looking man. She quickly turned and grabbed her things—wouldn't do to telegraph all of her thoughts to him. "See you at six-thirty." She called over her shoulder and walked out the door.

* * *

Veronica's office was just a few blocks up the street from the shop—L &amp; L Florist—so she made it back in time for the staff meeting. Veronica had dabbled in criminal justice during college but had ended up pursuing journalism with a photography double major. Her last two jobs had been fine, but she had mostly been limited to covering local issues and to filling in when the head photographer wasn't available. When this position had been advertised, it felt like the planets had aligned. They were looking for someone with extensive photography experience as well as an ability to write who was willing to travel. Veronica had submitted her portfolio immediately. Two interviews and two months later, here she was with her own office (instead of that horrible cubicle) and the first bit of freedom she had felt since her first semester of college.

"Hey Veronica. Heading to the meeting?" A quiet voice caught Veronica's attention.

Veronica looked up and smiled. A petite brunette with fun streaks of purple in her hair was poking her head into the office, her hands holding two cups of coffee. "Mac! And you have coffee. Let me grab my notebook and I'll be ready." Veronica hadn't found making friends as an adult very pleasant in general, and finding other women whose company she enjoyed…that was even harder. But Cindy 'Mac' Mackenzie was the head of IT at the online magazine and Veronica had recognized a kindred spirit from the get-go. Mac had taken her out for drinks after the second interview and a beautiful friendship had begun.

"So, did you figure out who sent you the flowers?" Mac asked as they made their way to the conference room.

"No, but the florist hit on me." Veronica exhaled dramatically and pretended to fan herself. "I should have taken a picture—he was unbelievably hot."

"A male florist? A straight male florist? Are you serious?" Mac shot her an incredulous look. "This is San Francisco are you sure he wasn't just being friendly-flirty?"

"He gave me his number and asked me to dinner. What do you think?"

Mac considered the new information. "Google him, maybe his Facebook isn't private."

Veronica pulled out her phone and put the florist's name into the search. A bunch of hits came up, more than was warranted by a small flower shop. At the top were a few pictures, so deciding to look at the rest later, Veronica clicked on the image that looked most recent and turned her phone to Mac.

Mac swallowed, "You weren't kidding. You know, he looks really familiar." Mac said as they found their seats.

"His name is familiar too and this brought up a lot of hits. I'm going to have to do some investigating later." Veronica whispered as their boss started the meeting.

* * *

The rest of Veronica's afternoon had been packed, so she never did get the chance to check up on the mystery florist. Instead she had to run to make it to the small shop at six-thirty as they had arranged. She found that the closed sign was up but the door was unlocked. "Logan?" She called into the empty space.

"Back here." His voice came from behind the counter where there was a small hall that led to the back of the shop. A few moments later, he emerged carrying a thin laptop. He came around the counter and gestured to a small table with a few chairs around it.

"So, I'm pretty sure the guy came in yesterday in the mid-afternoon." He smiled at Veronica before opening the laptop. "The data is archived with my security company, but I can stream it live or view the files for two weeks." He explained while bringing up the correct video and setting the playback to a faster rate.

Veronica watched while several customers and what looked like a delivery service entered the store and immediately picked up arrangements. Finally Logan slowed the playback to normal. "This guy." He paused the video and pointed at a white male of average height wearing a baseball cap. The bill of the cap obscured most of his face.

"Hit play again." Veronica requested. She watched as the man wondered through the small store and sorted through several pre-made arrangements before approaching the counter. "Do you remember what he talked with you about?"

Logan smiled, "Sure, because the guy was a bit off. He wanted a weird combination of flowers. Look, I don't put a lot of stock in the 'this flower means this or that' stuff—I'm more of an aesthetics type of guy. But Stanley wanted very specific flowers. Hmm…give me just a minute; I might still have the sheet I wrote what he wanted on." Logan got up and headed back behind the counter.

Veronica rewound the video and watched it from the beginning again, hoping to get a better view of the guy's face. Stanley had sat at this very table and waited while his arrangement was made. Veronica was a little surprised that it was even possible to request an arrangement and wait for it to be made. Unfortunately, even though he was there for almost twenty minutes, he never once looked up into the camera. There were a few profiles though, and she hoped she might get lucky enhancing the stranger's reflection in the glass display cases but it wasn't likely that Logan would have the right software on his laptop to do it.

Logan returned a few minutes later with a crumpled up sheet of paper. "It's your lucky day." He said cheerfully, "My cleaning service doesn't come every day and this was still in my office trash." He smoothed out the sheet. "He wanted the bouquet to express," Logan cleared his throat and said mock seriously, "anticipation, encouragement, admiration, forgiveness and innocence. Like I said the guy was a bit off. I have people request friendly or romantic arrangements all the time but rarely is anyone this specific. And really, how do you make flowers show anticipation?" He grumbled.

"Not very florist-y of you." Veronica laughed. "Well, I watched the whole time he was in the store and no clear shots of his face but a few where I might be able to enhance his reflection in that case." She pointed at the case. "Can I have a copy of the file?"

"On one condition." Logan gave her that sexy smile again. She nodded, encouraging him to continue. "Have dinner with me."

"Persistence. Is there a flower for that?" Veronica quipped.

"I'm not sure, but there is definitely a restaurant for it. Come on, I promise I don't bite—unless asked." He winked playfully.

_Why not? He's hot and I haven't been on an actual date in over a year. Not that this is a date, is it?_

"Okay, dinner."

* * *

Almost two hours and half way through their second bottle of wine Veronica had determined that the sexy florist was also darkly funny, intelligent, witty, and that he spoke with his hands in a mesmerizing way—_okay Veronica, slow down on the wine_, she thought to herself.

"Veronica?" Logan brought her attention back to him.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She felt a blush creep up her neck and on her cheeks.

"I asked if you might want to get dessert to-go?" He asked biting his lip.

"To-go, huh? Where did you think we might go with it?" Veronica leaned forward hoping she was giving him a flirtatious smile.

"I live just up the street, my place has a view of the bay…" He sagged as the words came out, "I swear that wasn't a line. Oh my god, I sound like a total asshole. Can I try that again?"

Veronica smirked and encouraged him to try again.

"My place has a great view and I thought it might be nice to sit outside and enjoy the view together. No pressure, just good company and maybe a nightcap." He gave her a shy and incredibly sweet smile.

* * *

As promised Logan's apartment, if you could call it that, was just up the street. The view from the balcony was spectacular. Veronica could see the lights on the new Bay Bridge as well as the San Francisco skyline through the haze of a light fog.

"Thought I'd save the tour for after we have dessert." He said as he grabbed a couple of plates and champagne flutes from the little outdoor wet bar that was right next to a fully appointed sitting area. Logan set out the strawberry and dark chocolate tart, "So Veronica, what do you think?"

While Logan had been preparing their dessert, Veronica had wandered over to the railing and was admiring the view. "I think you weren't exaggerating when you said you had a great view." _And that he was probably vastly underestimating when he said a time or two…boy's pretty well setup for entertaining the ladies. _Veronica walked back over to the large outdoor couch and took a seat smirking to herself. Logan joined her a few moments later with two glasses of champagne.

"To creeps with poor quotation skills." Logan declared raising his glass.

"Cheers." Veronica agreed. This may not have been the most conventional of first dates—if it even was a date, and she's pretty sure by now it was—but she's definitely enjoying herself. They spent the next few minutes sipping champagne and eating the delicious tart.

With the dessert gone, Veronica can't resist, "So Logan, how did you become a florist?" She asked, taking a small sip of her champagne.

"_You must do the things you think you cannot do._" He replied.

"Seriously? You're going to quote Eleanor Roosevelt at me?"

"Well I thought you deserved a better one than 'secret admirer' boy had up his sleeve." Logan leaned back against the cushions and exhaled, "how does anyone become what they are? A dream, an experience that colors the rest of your life, a need to be useful." He replied wistfully.

"A need for a paycheck? Cause these are some pretty fancy digs you got here." Veronica quipped.

"Well, sure, that too, I suppose." Logan looked at their glasses, "We need refills. I'll be right back." He leaned forward to grab her glass but paused and looked back at her. The hand that had been reaching for the glass redirected and brushed a loose strand of hair off Veronica's face. She couldn't help but lean into his touch. He leaned further toward her and gently pressed his lips to hers, his hand drifting down her neck and cupping her shoulder. He pulled back briefly; Veronica met his eyes, now dark with lust. She pressed forward to return his kiss. She had no idea how long they stayed lost in each other but Logan pulled away first. "Wow." He exhaled, "Okay, I'm going to get us more champagne. And cool off a bit…" The last said under his breath.

As he left, Veronica got up from the couch, thinking she could use a little cooling off too. She leaned against the railing, enjoying the feel of the breeze coming off the water. She gripped the rail so that she could lean back; taking in a deep breath, her tipsy brain enjoying the slight rush, which was amplified as a large warm hand wrapped around her waist and settled against her stomach. Veronica's eyes sprung open to see a glass of champagne being held in front of her. She accepted the glass and leaned back against Logan's firm chest, sighing in relief at the feel of his touch. He seemed to take her actions as an invitation and shifted her body so that his hips were tight against her ass. _So much for cooling off…_

Veronica felt his lips brush against her ear, "You are so beautiful." He whispered and continued to ghost his lips down the column of her throat, inhaling deeply when he reached the junction of her neck and shoulder, "And smell amazing. God, I can't wait to taste you." His words vibrated against her pulse and she could feel him getting hard.

And maybe normally she would have been put off at his boldness but god he felt so good and if she was honest she couldn't wait for him to taste her either. Veronica took a last sip of her champagne, turned in his arms and pulled him down to her. He tasted of the sweet strawberry dessert they had shared, dry champagne, and something that must have just been him—it was intoxicating. She moaned into the kiss as he lifted her up into his arms.

Before she realized what had happened Logan had settled them both onto his huge bed with Veronica straddling his lap. "Is this where you take all your conquests?" She asked breathlessly.

"Nope, only the short ones." Logan responded cheekily before capturing her lips again. His tongue swept into her mouth, stealing any response she might have come up with. Logan's hands ran up and down her back and then traced the bit of bare skin between her jeans and shirt before slowly starting to lift the hem. Veronica, running on instinct at this point, deepened the kiss then lifted her arms so he could pull the shirt off.

"Yours too," She practically growled as her shirt flew across the room. And it seemed Logan was not one to ignore a ladies request. His shirt went flying. Veronica didn't hesitate to explore his muscled chest and abdomen. Logan groaned as she glided her hands across his abs, up his chest and finally over his shoulders and down his upper back. The contrast of his smooth abs and the rough but masculine feel of the hair on his chest, the heady scent of his skin, and the alcohol—if she was being completely honest—had taken over most of her ability to think, but as her hands skimmed down his toned back she felt dozens of bumpy ridges laid out in an abstract pattern across his shoulder blades and pulled back.

The question must have been either familiar or plain in her eyes because before she could even open her mouth Logan's thumb swept across her cheek, "My formative years were…well—formative." He pulled her towards him and pressed a heated kiss to her mouth while unhooking her bra one handed. "Ta da!" He declared with a bright smile as the bra slid down, exposing her breasts. Theatrics complete, he didn't wait to duck down and take one of her nipples into his mouth. His tongue flicked then laved at it several times before pulling back, "I knew you would taste amazing." He rolled his hips against her and moved to pay lip service to her other nipple.

Veronica was loosing it fast. His hands, his mouth—god they were dry humping each other like teenagers. She slid her hands between them and reached for the button of his jeans. She fumbled a bit trying to release his jeans while they kept up their slow grind against each other. Finally, frustration getting the better of her, Veronica shoved Logan back, breaking the contact his mouth was making with her now overly sensitive breast. "Pants off. Now." She growled.

"Yes Ma'am." Logan rolled until he was on top of Veronica and then stood abruptly. He shoved his pants and boxers off in one swift motion.

"Wow." Veronica couldn't hide her admiration; he was a beautiful specimen of a man.

Logan dropped to his knees and slid between Veronica's legs, his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her up to a sitting position. As soon as she was where he wanted her, his hands released and he resumed kissing and sucking on her stomach while his hands went to her jeans. "Mmmm," he hummed against her ribs, "Pants off…now." But he didn't wait for her to respond; instead he slipped an arm under her hips and pulled her jeans off in one smooth motion.

He was now completely naked and Veronica was wearing only a cheeky pair of lacy boy shorts. God she was glad she had worn cute lingerie.

Logan picked up her leg and pressed a soft kiss against her ankle, "Veronica. Watch me." And Veronica couldn't help but watch as he slowly kissed his way up her leg, never taking his eyes off hers. The intensity of his gaze and the feel of his incredibly soft lips were driving her mad. It was the hottest thing she had ever seen. When he reached the edge of her panties he set her leg on his shoulder, picked up her other leg and started the process over again.

Just when she thought she would go insane with wanting him to touch her…_really_ touch her, his hands wrapped around her hips, gripping her ass and pulling her core against his mouth. She heard him inhale shakily then felt him tongue her through the lace of her boy shorts. "God, Logan. More…please." She begged.

Logan's hand slid up and grabbed the top of the lace, his other hand gripping Veronica's ankles and lifting her up so that he could remove the last barrier between them. He placed her legs back on his shoulders, splayed his hand on her stomach, and pushed down gently, causing her hips to relax involuntarily and open her up to him. "I've been thinking about doing this for hours. I've been hard almost all day just thinking about you like this."

He stopped teasing and brushed his lips against her, causing Veronica to moan loudly. She could feel him smile against her before his tongue flicked against her clit, circling it with alternating firm and light pressure. Veronica was certain she had never felt anything as good as what he was doing to her and then had to take the thought right back as he slid one of those long elegant fingers that she had been watching—fantasizing about—all night into her. And she was gone; Veronica felt her whole body go rigid with pleasure as he continued to work her until she begged him to stop.

Logan crawled back up her body, "You coming has to be the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I'm going to make you come all night long." He hummed against her neck as he reached into a bedside drawer and pulled out a condom. He looked into Veronica's eyes and she saw it there—a question—he wouldn't go further without her agreement.

Veronica reached for the condom and tore it open, "I hope you have more than one of these if you're going to make me come all night long." She purred, taking his cock in her hand and rolling the condom on while Logan moaned and thrust into her touch.

Logan took both of her hands in one of his and held them above her head. Veronica felt herself tense; it had been a long time and feeling out of control rarely led to good things for her. But after all of these years she had a better handle on what she needed to feel comfortable. "Logan, wait."

Logan looked down at her, his eyes hot and somehow tender at the same time. "I need to be on top." She told him. Without pause he released her wrists and gripped her hips, rolling them both over. But instead of lying back, he moved into a sitting position so that Veronica was in his lap. "How's this?" His words vibrated against her neck and he moved one of his hands between them. He rubbed the head of his dick back and forth against her, waiting for a response.

"Yessss." Veronica shifted her hips as he slid past her opening to start to take him into her. They both stilled at the sensation. Logan moved his hand back to hold her hip, but stayed still, waiting for her to take the lead. Veronica slowly lowered herself onto him gripping tightly to his shoulders. Once she had taken as much of him as she could, Veronica leaned forward to kiss him, licking her tongue into his mouth. Logan opened to her and shifted his hips subtly, causing him to go deeper. They both moaned loudly at the feeling. They continued to kiss as Veronica started to move. Logan met her every downward motion with a short upward thrust. He moved his hands from her hips to her neck and lower back. Now supporting her, Logan rose onto his knees and tilted Veronica back, allowing her to remain on top but him to take control. He drove up into her, using his hold on her lower back as leverage to push her tighter against him. Veronica felt her clit rub against him with every stroke.

"Verrrooonicaaa." Logan trailed kisses down her neck and bent her further back. He kissed his way between her breasts as he increased his pace. Logan sucked a nipple between his teeth and gently bit down on a hard upward thrust causing Veronica's world to break apart. When her vision cleared Logan's lips were back against hers. His thrusts were erratic and he was moaning into her mouth. Veronica tightened her muscles around him with each stroke until Logan came hard with her name on his lips.

Logan laid them onto the bed side-by-side, both catching their breath.

"Woof."

* * *

The next morning, Logan woke up with a tiny blonde spooned against him, their fingers intertwined. He tightened his hold on her, reveling in the feel of her soft skin and her sweet scent. Careful though he was, his movements woke her.

Veronica jerked up and stared down at Logan her face flushing. "Oh god." She looked down, turning impossibly redder, "I'm so embarrassed. I don't normally do this—" Veronica waved her hand between them, hugging the sheet tightly against her chest.

"This?" Logan asked, smirking at her blush, which he'd bet he'd find went down to her toes if he lifted the sheet.

"You know…_this_."

"Sorry, I'm confused, you don't normally sleep?" He continued to tease her.

"No, you jackass, I don't usually have sex with strangers!" She exclaimed with exasperation.

"Oh that…come now, we're not strangers. And it was some really great sex." He smiled winningly. "In fact—" He scooted closer to her and bent his lips to her neck brushing them across a faint bruise he'd left the night before—or maybe that was early this morning.

"Logan, stop, I need go." Veronica complained as Logan continued to work his way across her shoulder and started to pull the sheet away.

"No, don't go. Stay." Logan bent his head down to kiss his way across her chest, spotting several more light bruises, "Mmmm…" Veronica's head lolled back as he took a nipple between his lips and sucked. Logan lifted her into his lap, "Can I interest you in a shower? I'll wash your back." Logan whispered into Veronica's hair.

Veronica nodded into his chest, so he moved her to straddle his lap and scooted them off the bed. He held her close and walked them to his bathroom.

* * *

Logan hadn't had sex that good in… _Last night was the best sex I've ever had, and this morning was in the top tier, too_, he thought, still feeling blissed out as he pulled on a clean pair of jeans. _And if that was just the first time…_ The possibility of how much better it could be between him and Veronica was making him hard again.

Veronica wrapped her hands around him from behind, "Down boy." She chuckled, buttoning his jeans for him. "You're going to need to feed me if you want another go 'round." She kissed his back, which did not help Logan to calm himself. After seeing his scars most women avoided touching his back but that she seemed unfazed was incredibly arousing.

"Good god woman, I can't control myself around you." He took her hands in his and spun them around a few times, kissed her nose and settled his hands on her hips. "Food. There is this great little place not too far. We could walk down have some breakfast," he looked at his watch, "Hmm…make that brunch or maybe lunch. And then we could go back to your place and you can copy those files off my laptop." Logan couldn't resist pulling her close so she could feel that he was hard again, "And maybe we can see what happens?" He grinned playfully.

"What are you the energizer bunny? Do you just keeping going and going?"

"What's that make you, if you keep coming and coming?"

"Ugh, get dressed. Feed me." Logan started to open his mouth, "No, Echolls. Take me to breakfast, lunch, whatever. I'm spent." Veronica threw her hands in the air, and Logan captured them in his again and whispered kisses along her knuckles.

"Yes, ma'am." He released her hands and headed to his closet to grab a fresh shirt. He pulled on a dark green Henley that always seemed to gain him attention. He hoped Veronica liked it.

* * *

Logan held the door for Veronica as they exited his building and had to jog a few steps to catch up with her on the sidewalk. He reached for her hand, trying to intertwine their fingers but Veronica startled and pulled her hand away.

"What are you doing?" Veronica asked.

"Trying to hold your hand. Unsuccessfully, I might add." Logan raised his eyebrows at her. "Did last night and this morning not earn me hand-holding privileges?" Logan tried to keep a smirk on his face but knew he sounded petulant.

"Hand-holding is more of a dating gesture, not a night-o-fun gesture." Veronica replied her playfulness from earlier all but gone.

Logan reached for her hand again and didn't let her pull away. "Don't get me wrong, last night was fun. A lot of fun. This morning too." He waggled his eyebrows at her, "And I definitely want to have more _fun_ with you. But I want to get to know you, too." Logan felt her hand relax in his so he interlaced their fingers and pulled her closer. "I don't just want to give you a copy of the video and never see you again." He lifted her hand to his lips.

"Oh god, you're a romantic, aren't you?" Veronica looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Yup." He popped the P against her hand then looked into her eyes. "I'm a florist, Veronica, are you really surprised?"

Veronica sighed, dramatically shaking her head.

"Come on, let me take you to breakfast and try to convince you." Logan gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, breakfast." She continued to shake her head but let him hold her hand. "I'm breaking all of my rules."

"'You are remembered for the rules you break.' Douglas MacArthur." Logan quoted at her and kissed her temple as he pulled her into the little café.

* * *

An hour and some quiche later, Logan pressed Veronica against the wall of the elevator. _What is it about her? I can't get enough._ He inhaled her scent and let his hands roam down her sides, his thumbs brushing the sides of her breasts causing her to moan into his mouth.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened painfully slowly. Once they'd opened, Veronica propelled them down the hall, kissing Logan, then dragging him further down the hall. She already had her keys out when they reached her door. It took all of Logan's self control to not just take her against the door.

The door clicked open and they were on each other again with barely contained restraint. Logan couldn't remember ever wanting someone so bad in his life. _And I thought my teenage exploits were fucking awesome; they were nothing. _He spun Veronica and kicked her door shut. "Bedroom? Couch? Wall? Fuck Veronica I need you right now." Logan groaned as Veronica unbuttoned his jeans and started to push them down.

"I don't care." She moaned into his mouth.

Logan spotted the couch and started walking Veronica backwards towards it as he kicked of his shoes and pants while pulling her shirt off and starting to work on her jeans.

* * *

"Okay, these clothes are done." Veronica said softly against Logan's chest. Her breath tickled across the hair on his chest, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I could shower again." Logan whispered into her hair, sliding his hand down to cup her bare ass. _I think my body forgot I'm not seventeen anymore_, he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"I don't think that's necessary. Um…let me just go throw on some clean clothes and then we can take care of me getting a copy of that video." Veronica peeled herself off of Logan.

While Veronica headed to her bedroom, Logan took the opportunity to check out her apartment. It wasn't decorated yet but she did have a few essential pieces of furniture and photos set out. Logan pulled his boxers and jeans back on and continued to snoop around the living room and kitchen. "Can I make some coffee?" He called out when he spotted her espresso machine.

"You'll be my hero." Veronica's enthusiastic voice carried out of her room.

Logan started looking through the cupboards above the espresso machine and found everything he needed to make a couple of cappuccinos. "Cappuccino okay?" He waited and waited, "Veronica?" Still no response. He walked to her bedroom and found her staring at her bed.

"Babe, I'm pretty sure I could go again but asking is more useful than staring at the bed." He joked wrapping his arms around her waist.

She remained rigid in his arms and pointed to a small bundle of wildflowers and a square white card lying in the middle of the dark blue comforter on her queen size bed. Logan tightened his hold around Veronica and shifted her in his arms so that he could be closer to the bed while moving her further away.

In block printing, the card said, "I like watching you sleep, I find it fascinating. Where were you last night?"

Logan's heart raced and his fists clenched. The writing matched the card Veronica that had shown him earlier. This wasn't just some admirer with bad taste in movie lines and flowers; he had broken into her apartment.

"This guy really needs to get some better material."


	2. Chapter 2

"What should we do?" Logan asked, his voiced sounding distant and not completely real.

Veronica hadn't been terribly concerned about getting flowers from an admirer. It had happened before. Once it was a shy co-worker; another time it had been a guy from her yoga class. But the image this particular phrase evoked wasn't one she was likely to forget. It had been almost five years, but waking up to find her best friend's roommate standing over her, watching her sleep, had been a disturbing and memorable experience. She shuddered at the memory.

"Veronica?" Logan called again.

"Sorry, lost in thought. What should we do? Well, I think we need to call the police so that I can report that my apartment was broken into. Unfortunately, we've probably contaminated any evidence they might have been able to find, but I'm pretty sure I know who this is now." Veronica could feel her mind kicking into gear. It had been a long time, but she still remembered all of the lessons from her father about dealing with times of crisis. And this wasn't her first time dealing with this particular crisis.

"You know who this is? Has this happened before?" Logan looked stunned.

"It's a long story, but yeah, this has happened before. If I'm right this would be the fifth time." Veronica turned away from Logan who still looked shell-shocked. She went to her purse and retrieved her cell phone and, after scanning through the contact list, placed a call.

"Detective D'Amato." A friendly voice answered.

"Hey Leo, it…it's Veronica. I think I just got an unwelcome little present from our old friend, Piz." Veronica skipped all pretense of pleasantries.

"Veronica?" The friendly tone was gone, replaced by concern and something more. "Are you sure? I thought he was supposed to still be on probation and not able to leave the state. Hold on." Veronica could hear the clack of a keyboard. "Shit."

"What is it?" Veronica had been pretty sure she knew who it was, but until it was confirmed she could maintain a small amount of denial.

"His probation ended six months ago. How did I miss this?" Leo sounded frustrated. "His last known address is his parents' home. How much you wanna bet he's not there?"

"Is my restraining order still good now that I'm in a different state?" Veronica could feel Logan's presence at her back. Normally she wasn't one to take comfort from others, especially someone she hardly knew, but there really was something about him, she couldn't put her finger on it yet, but for the moment she decided to let that go. _Yep, breaking more of the rules._ She leaned back against his solid chest and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her.

Veronica heard more typing. "Well it would still be good if it were still active. The order of protection expired at the same time as his probation."

"Great, just great. He left me flowers and a creepy card, unsigned of course. First at my job yesterday, and then I found another in my apartment this morning. He was in my apartment, Leo."

"You need to call the police and get this reported. As soon as you've been assigned to someone, send me their contact info and I can make sure they are fully aware of the situation and take you seriously." Leo exhaled loudly, "Are you alone, Veronica? Maybe you should have your dad come visit."

Veronica took a moment to consider the question. _Was she alone?_ At the moment no, but otherwise, yes she was very much alone. Her father was busy with his new wife and trying to keep his PI business up and running. She didn't feel right asking him to drop everything over this stupid stalker problem again, especially after how upset he'd been over her move.

Veronica settled into the solid warmth of the man wrapped around her. "No Leo, I'm not alone. I'll update you after I speak to the police here." Veronica ended the call and looked up the number for the local precinct, deciding that calling 911 was overkill. Once she had explained the situation they assured her that an inspector would be at her apartment shortly.

"Okay, Logan, whip out that laptop of yours and let me get that video. I want to have it all ready to give to the inspector when he gets here." She smiled grimly, hoping he would just cooperate and not ask too many questions yet. She was sure she'd have plenty of time to explain the whole sordid tale to him because—given the choice between being alone and vulnerable to Piz or spending time with Logan—well, she'd take the sexy florist any day.

* * *

It didn't take long for the detective, or inspector as they were called in San Francisco, to arrive. He was a balding fifty-something man in 'street-clothes' who introduced himself as Inspector Jim Saitou of the Personal Crimes Division of the SFPD.

"Ms. Mars, maybe you can show me where the flowers and card are?" Saitou asked, though Veronica didn't think it was a request that could be refused.

"Of course, if you could…" She waved toward the kitchen for Logan to finish making the coffees he had offered earlier.

Logan nodded his understanding and headed into the kitchen.

Once Logan was out of sight, the detective lowered his voice, "Ms. Mars I need to know right now that Mr. Echolls has not threatened you or coerced you in any way."

Veronica was taken aback, "If he had, why would I have called you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time. Ms. Mars?"

"Mr. Echolls has not threatened or coerced me. He is my…hmmm…well I guess he's my friend." Veronica fumbled trying to find the best way to say 'super extended one night stand_'_. "He was with me when I discovered the flowers and card and he is the florist who made the arrangement that was left at my place of employment yesterday."

"Are you certain he is not the person who left them?"

"It seems very unlikely that I would have two stalkers, though technically I suppose it's possible. And I have video of the man who purchased the first bouquet, though you never see his face." Veronica said tapping her chin.

"Two stalkers? I'm sorry Ms. Mars I think I'm going to need more information." The inspector indicated that they should sit as Logan came back in the room balancing three mugs of coffee, sugar and cream on a small tray. "You too, Mr. Echolls. I'm going to need to know more about your role in all of this as well."

Logan sat down on the couch next to Veronica and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. At first, Veronica was temped to shrug him off but she couldn't help but enjoy the solid feel of his body and the comfort it provided. _I'm losing it!_

"First, I think I'd like to see this video you have." Saitou looked to Logan.

"Sure," Logan reached for the laptop, which was already queued up from earlier, and hit play on the video.

The inspector leaned forward and watched intently, stopping to ask questions of both Logan and Veronica periodically. When the video had finished he turned back to Veronica.

"Ms. Mars, do you know who this man might be?"

"To be honest, when I first saw the video I didn't recognize him. It wasn't until I received the second bouquet and card that I made the connection. Despite the different physical appearance, I am fairly certain that it is Stosh 'Piz' Piznarski. He stalked and harassed me when I was in college and up until recently I had an order of protection against him." Veronica responded trying to be as exacting as possible.

He nodded his head and reached into a messenger style bag, retrieving a tablet. "Where was the order issued?"

"Oregon."

The inspector began tapping the screen purposefully and the room lapsed into silence. While they waited, Veronica felt Logan lean his forehead down to rest above her ear as his hand massaged her shoulder.

"Okay, I have the original report and the expired order of protection. Looks like you worked with a Det. D'Amato. He's also added a notation here about Piznarski's last known address." The inspector made a few more hand gestures on the screen, "D'Amato has confirmed that he no longer resides at the listed residence and that his parents haven't heard from him in several weeks." He looked up at Veronica, "Did you contact D'Amato already?"

"Yes, I did."

Saitou continued to browse on his tablet; although Veronica couldn't tell what he was looking at she had a pretty good idea. Report after report of her basically begging campus police to do something about the other freshman who wouldn't leave her alone.

"Ms. Mars, I see what must be dozens of complaints on your part here starting in late November of 2006 and going through June 2010, when an order of protection was finally issued after an incident."

Veronica nodded. "That sounds right. Campus police thought I was just being a bitch. 'Piz' is a very likable guy. At first he told them I just overreacted and then, as time went on and I continued to complain, he convinced them that I was stringing him along. You know—one week we're a couple the next I hate him. Which, of course, wasn't true but they didn't believe me. I did a summer internship with the FBI after freshman year and he showed up there to 'visit' me. I told my supervisor about what had been going on, which helped." Logan's hand continued massaging her shoulder and upper back, relieving some of the tension she was feeling.

"That would be the lull in reports from June 2007-March 2008?" He asked and appeared to be making notes.

"Yes. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know my supervisor spoke with him and they enrolled me in the self-defense seminar. Things were much better and I figured that he had lost interest. We saw each other occasionally, since we had some mutual friends, though most of them did their best to warn me if he was going to be around."

Saitou nodded along; she was sure he was verifying her account with the public records. "What changed in March of 2008?"

"I was accepted into a study abroad program through the University of Paris for my photography capstone. Right before Spring Break my friends threw a party for me to celebrate. Piz showed up and, after he discovered that I would be gone for the next year, he restarted whatever _this_ is. That night I woke up to find him staring down at me while I was sleeping. I screamed, which woke up my roommate, and Piz fled but was stopped by campus police. That was the first time they even remotely took me seriously, because he had a copy of our 'do not copy' dorm key."

Veronica felt Logan tense and heard his abrupt intake of air. She felt bad, Leo and her dad were the only people who had ever had to hear this story in its entirety and they had lived it. Veronica was fairly certain this was the first time since her testimony that she had told this story from start to finish. Even she had to admit it sounded pretty bad and she hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet.

"I see that report. He was banned from student housing?"

"Yes. He continued to try to make contact with me during the rest of the spring semester but I started crashing on a friend's couch and only attended the classes I had to. I left for Paris in June. I have no idea how he found out where I was staying in Paris but he showed up there in early August, and told my flat mate that he was my boyfriend there for a surprise visit."

"I see the attached report. Looks like the police in France were kind enough to escort him to the airport rather than arrest him."

"Yes, it turns out that while stalking is frowned upon internationally, charm is apparently a universal language. As I'm sure you can see, I also filed an additional complaint with both the university where I was studying abroad and back home at Linfield College. When I returned to finish my senior year I found out that Piz had dropped out and had moved back to his parents' home in Beaverton. He made several appearances at my apartment, but I had splurged for a building with a doorman and restricted access so he never was able to actually make contact. I reported each incidence with video evidence."

"Okay, Ms. Mars, I think there is no doubt that you have a detailed history of his stalking but this final report is heavily redacted. Can you explain what happened? I'll put in a request for the full file but this looks like he must have made some kind of deal to not be charged with whatever happened."

"Hm…part of the agreement included me agreeing not to speak about it. But he also had to agree to never contact or attempt to contact me again."

The inspector set his tablet down on the table, allowing Veronica to see him hitting pause on the voice-recording app. "We'll keep this off the record for the moment, shall we? I don't want you violating a court order but I think I need to know what happened. Would you be more comfortable if we had Mr. Echolls wait in the other room?"

"No, that won't be necessary. The incident was that he kind of…kidnapped me. If you can call it that."

The whole time Veronica had been talking, Logan had kept his arm around her but at this admission his arm fell away and his face showed shock. "He kidnapped you?"

"Well, maybe 'tried' is the better word. It sounds worse than it actually was. The idiot was waiting in the backseat of my car and when I got in he told me he had a special surprise and told me to start driving. He was giving me directions to an ocean view lookout. Since I had no idea what he had in mind and really didn't want to find out, I used the evasive driving I learned with the FBI and crashed the car while we were still in a well lit public area. I broke my wrist and he ended up a bit worse off than I did. In the end they agreed not to press charges mostly because he didn't have a weapon. All he was armed with was a hideous engagement ring." Veronica scrunched up her face at the memory the tacky ring. "I agreed not to pursue it further if he went into a psychiatric treatment program for at least one year, the state would grant me an order of protection, and he would agree to never contact me again. Technically, I suppose he never agreed, his lawyer did for him." Veronica shrugged.

Saitou nodded again; it seemed to be his standard response. He looked back at Veronica and indicated the tablet. Veronica nodded back and he hit record.

"Let's move on to what happened yesterday and today." He continued on like they had never spoken about the final report in the file.

After asking his last questions about discovering the flowers that afternoon, Saitou closed his tablet. "All right Ms. Mars, I saw on my way in that there is a camera on the main entrance to the building. I'm going to request a copy of the last twenty-four hours and see if we can't get a visual on Piznarski. But I'm not real confident. I'm betting he used the entrance at the parking garage and the camera there…lots of blind spots." The detective shook his head. "Unfortunately, since the order of protection you had is expired there isn't much we can do about him without physical evidence he was here. And even then…" The middle aged inspector sighed and Veronica thought he looked resigned.

"What about me? I can positively ID him as the person who bought flowers from my shop." Logan said.

"I wish that were enough, Mr. Echolls. And maybe if the flowers left here were from your shop we could at least use it to get a temporary order but even then if the guy gets a halfway decent lawyer…" Saitou resumed shaking his head. "Ms. Mars I've been doing this for a lot of years and the best advice I can give you right now is to find somewhere else to stay that has good security, preferably with someone. I can't recommend a hotel—too easy to sneak into most. Maybe a trip out of town if you can."

Veronica could feel Logan's eyes on her. Inspector Saitou had given her the same advice as Leo. Get out of town…but even if she wanted to leave she couldn't because she had just gotten her first assignment. There was no way she was going to tell her new job that she couldn't complete her article because some deranged idiot she went on fewer than ten dates with seven years ago was leaving her flowers and creepy notes.

"He hasn't done anything overtly threatening. And previously he never actually did more than be a total creep." Veronica tried to dispel some of the tension that was building.

"Ms. Mars this man has been stalking you for seven years. And if everything you've told me is true, psychiatric treatment and meds did not stop him. He may not have harmed you, but following you across the country and to France is extreme. And now it appears he has moved here to be closer to you once again. These guys…" His eyes looked far away for a moment. "After this much time I can't help but be concerned that he may start to escalate. I'm going to contact Det. D'Amato and the DA who handled that last report and see if we can't shake something loose we can use to arrest him."

"I'll think about staying somewhere else." Veronica agreed as she walked with the inspector to the door.

As she closed and locked the door behind him and leaned her forehead against the cool metal of the door, Veronica took a few deep breaths and started to wonder where she could stay. She hadn't been in San Francisco long enough to have a friend base. There was Mac, but while they got along really well she didn't think they were at a place where she wanted to explain this whole cluster-fuck. Not to mention the fact that Veronica didn't want to possibly put her in danger.

Veronica startled at the feel of Logan's arms wrapping around her. "I know you're feeling pretty stressed right now and I don't want to impose myself on you." He tightened his hold around her for a moment. "I want you to know that you are welcome to stay with me. I have a high-end security system and plenty of room for a guest." He kissed her lightly on the temple and released her.

Veronica pushed away from the door and turned around to face Logan. She looked at the handsome man who she barely knew. His face was open and warm with a hint of some emotion just under the surface that she couldn't quite place.

She hadn't made up her mind what she thought of him yet. Certainly she was attracted to him—very attracted to him—but she had broken one of her many self-imposed rules when she had gone home with him after what could barely be called a first date. Something Logan had said the night before really resonated with her, though. _My formative years were…well—formative._ Veronica's scars might not have been visible like Logan's but they were there, nonetheless.

Maybe if Piz had been her first bad experience with humanity it would be different. In all the years since Piz had first stalked her, longer if she wanted to think about high school—which she definitely didn't—Veronica had erected walls between herself and those around her. To get past the walls was not easily done, in fact in the last seven years she'd only let a handful of people get to know who she really was. She'd been a fool that first semester of college, thinking she could put high school behind her and just be a normal person with normal friends and a normal boyfriend. Piz had seemed normal, sweet in a kind of boring way, but normal. _That_ certainly hadn't turned out well. And then there was Detective D'mato, Leo…

"Veronica?" Logan interrupted Veronica's trip down memory lane.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted there."

"It's okay. What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" He swept her bangs out of her eyes and rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

Veronica's whole body tingled at the contact and she was sure he could hear her heart practically pounding out of her chest. _Staying with him might not be a terrible idea_.

"I'm thinking about what a mess my life has become…again." Veronica tried to maneuver away from Logan but he moved with her and took her hand.

"Hey, you've had a bit of a rough day. I understand, it's not easy to deal with stuff like this." Logan squeezed her hand gently and gave a little tug. Veronica let him lead her over to the couch. "I've been there."

Veronica let out a loud huff. _Been there, my ass. Is he trying to bullshit me? Here I was starting to let down my guard_…

"I'm sure you know all about what it's like to have someone who shows up and blows your world all to hell every time you start to feel like you can just live a normal life." She scoffed at him.

Logan let out a little laugh, "You really don't know who I am, do you?" He smirked at her and pulled out his cell phone.

Veronica watched as Logan messed around with his phone and remembered his name pulling up a lot of hits when she'd shown Mac a picture of him. Logan handed her the phone.

"I'm the son of Aaron Echolls, accused—but not convicted—murderer of my high school girlfriend."

* * *

Logan hadn't been sure if his confession about who he really was would strengthen or destroy whatever it was that was going on between him and Veronica. But he had decided it was worth the risk and it had paid off. Veronica was in her bedroom packing a bag and Logan was looking up the number for his security company to request that they add some additional security, including a bodyguard.

Logan was still reeling a bit, not only from Veronica's surprisingly positive reaction to finding out who he was, but also from the fact that she hadn't known who he was to begin with. Veronica had admitted to knowing who his father was and to being surprised that she hadn't made the connection sooner—Logan was glad she hadn't. He had become so used to everyone knowing who he was and all of the baggage that entailed that it was almost refreshing to be around someone who was forming opinions of him based solely off of his own attributes, even if it was mostly the physical ones at this point. He was confident that there was more between him and Veronica than just fantastic chemistry in the bedroom. _Can't forget the deck, the couch, the shower… _He chuckled to himself.

"Okay, all packed." Veronica announced, coming back into the small living room and breaking into Logan's musings. "I grabbed enough stuff for a few days. Not sure what I'll do after that."

Logan stood up from the couch and grabbed his laptop bag. "We'll figure it out as we go."

Logan helped Veronica shut off all the lights and they left. It was now early evening and Logan was getting hungry.

"What do you want to do for dinner? I know I said I'd take you out again, but maybe I could cook for you instead?" Logan smiled down at Veronica.

* * *

On the way back to Logan's they stopped at a little market and picked up all the ingredients to make lasagna. Logan had a secret recipe that he was sure would be a hit after seeing how Veronica could eat.

_A woman who eats is such a turn on…of course everything this woman does is a turn on_. Logan thought, adjusting himself after pulling the lasagna out of the oven.

"So this is my secret recipe." He told Veronica very seriously. "In fact, I'm not sure you can have any, I don't think you can handle how great it really is."

"Well Echolls, I've never met a lasagna I couldn't handle, so bring it on."Veronica responded padding around the kitchen island to get a closer look.

Logan had given her free rein of his place when they arrived and encouraged her to put her stuff away in his room and make herself at home. It was clear from her wet hair, tank top and faded jean shorts that she had taken him at his word, despite her earlier reluctance.

She looked relaxed and beautiful as she wrapped her arm around his waist and bent to smell the lasagna.

Logan placed his lips at her ear, "I'll let you in on my secret…I double the cheese."

Abruptly, Veronica pulled away and doubled over laughing. Logan stood dumbfounded, _What did I do? She liked my innuendo filled whispers before._

Veronica wiped tears from her eyes. "That's my dad's secret recipe, too. I will never be able to listen to him tell me his secret with a straight face again!" She giggled.

"Geez Mars, you had me scared that my charms had worn off." Logan joked pulling Veronica around and kissing the tip of her nose. "You ready to eat?" He asked, resting his forehead against hers. Logan was adjusting his position to kiss her when the doorbell rang.

"Well crap." He said, quickly pecking her on the lips. "Wine is already on the table if you want to pour a couple of glasses, I'll join you in just a minute."

Logan jogged down the flight of stairs to the front door where he was greeted by a representative from his security company.

"Mr. Echolls, I'm Jeff Ratner. I've been assigned to provide the extra security you requested."

Logan looked at the man standing in front of him and thought the company couldn't be serious—this guy wasn't very impressive; where was the Hulk Hogan looking dude he'd requested?

"I get it; I know I don't look like much. But I promise you, I am fully trained in a variety of mixed martial arts and the fact that you don't find me impressive is actually one of my best characteristics. Your guest has a stalker problem, if there is visible security he will just wait until there isn't, however if he doesn't notice me…well it's more likely that I'll observe him doing something illegal and we can turn him over to the authorities."

Logan felt a smile cross his lips. "Well Ratner, I think this is going to work out." Logan had been expecting some massive guy who would scare off this Piz person, but Ratner's plan was so much more appealing.

* * *

After dinner, Logan led Veronica out onto the deck again just as the sun was setting.

"This is so beautiful. How did you end up with this amazing place?" Veronica asked, leaning back into Logan's chest.

"Actually, when I was a kid my mom was in a play here in the city. She didn't want us living in a hotel the whole summer so we rented this house." Logan's arms wrapped around Veronica and pulled her in closer. "After I finished college, I wasn't sure what I was going to do; I just knew I wanted out of Southern California. A friend invited me up here for a visit and we were looking for a place to eat when we drove past this neighborhood and I remembered this place." He kissed her temple gently. "You know how my mom died, right?"

Veronica nodded and snuggled further into his warmth.

"After she…" he swallowed audibly, "She left me her art collection and jewelry, so I have those, but my dad got rid of everything else. If you were to walk through that house you would never know she existed. Anyway, when I remembered this place, I used a few of my connections to get in touch with the owners and made them an offer they couldn't refuse."

"So you have good memories of your mother here?" Veronica asked hoping her voice came out steadier than she was feeling.

"Yeah. That summer it was just the two of us. We walked around the city almost every day, going to museums and galleries and I got to see her perform. I spent a lot of time at the theater. It was before she…" Logan sighed heavily and buried his nose in Veronica hair. "She got a lot of attention for her role in that play—won a Tony—and Aaron didn't like that she was getting more buzz than him. He insisted she stop acting to be at home with me full time even though I was already in school. She started drinking and popping pills after that. This is one of the last places I…"

"Hey, it's okay. I understand." Veronica tilted her head so she could see him. "My mom left my dad and me when I was sixteen. Just packed up and was gone. I know it's not the same—"

Logan's lips interrupted Veronica's words. His mouth was hot and intense against hers as his hands glided down her sides, gripping onto her hips and lifting and pulling her forcefully into his lap. Veronica broke the kiss to catch her breath as Logan's lips burned a trail down her neck while his hands slid down to her ass and rocked her against him. Veronica's breath hitched at the feeling of him hard through his jeans and the thin fabric of her worn shorts. His hands released her and dragged off first her tank top and then his shirt.

"Shouldn't we go inside?" Veronica panted as his lips descended between her breasts, causing her to arch into his touch.

"Later…" his breath was hot on her chest as he lifted her and laid her out on the wide outdoor couch. His lips continued making their way down her body while he made quick work of removing the shorts and thong she was wearing. "God you're amazing," he hummed, biting gently on her soft inner thigh while his fingers traced through her wet folds. He replaced his fingers with his tongue and pressed a digit into her, pumping once slowly and then harder as her body responded to his touch.

Unexpectedly, the feel of his fingers and mouth disappeared, leaving Veronica feeling bereft. "No, don't stop." She pled.

"Don't worry baby, I'm not even close to done." Logan said huskily as he pulled a condom out of his pocket and shoved his jeans off. He rolled the condom on and pulled Veronica to straddle his lap, thrusting into her and eliciting a gasp at the sudden intrusion. He pulled her face towards him, his lips on hers, tongue delving deeply into her mouth with an almost frantic intensity.

Veronica twisted her hips, drawing a groan from Logan. His hands wrapped around her hips and together they rocked and moved against each other.

Logan looked up into her face, "Can I lay you back? Is that okay?" He asked softly, the tone a stark contrast to his assertive actions of only moments before.

Veronica gulped nervously but nodded her head. "Yeah." Looking into his eyes, she saw his previous intensity replaced by a reverence Veronica had never had directed at her before.

Logan, still buried inside her, gently shifted their position and lowered Veronica onto the couch, following her down with soft kisses. Once she was laid out beneath him, Logan hitched one of her legs over his hip allowing him to fill her completely. Never taking his eyes away from hers, Logan started to move, slowly at first, cataloguing each of her reactions.

Veronica had never had someone be so attentive to her during sex before and she had never had missionary feel so good. The intensity of his gaze and the pleasure he was giving her was almost overwhelming, but he kept her just this side of her orgasm.

Logan's lips ghosted across her cheek to her ear as he pulled almost completely out and surged back into her with just a little more force than he had been using. "Is that okay?" He asked as she moaned her approval.

He continued to increase the strength of each thrust until Veronica was writhing beneath him moaning breathlessly as her orgasm washed over her. "That's it baby, oh god Veronica!" Logan called out as he came too.

Never putting any weight on her, Logan rolled to the side and cuddled Veronica into him. He buried his face into her hair, as they both took deep panting breaths.

Veronica's eyelids started to feel heavy as she felt Logan's breath become steady under her ear. Just before sleep took her she heard Logan whisper, "I'm glad the creep picked my shop."

* * *

Piz had waited in Veronica's apartment until well after midnight on Friday night, hoping to see Veronica's reaction to his latest offering. He'd found her discovery of the first bouquet anti-climatic. He had been sure she would know it was him. But she hadn't and then he'd had to endure her flirting with that horrid florist. He knew he'd made a mistake going in there.

He'd left the new flowers and card on her bed late in the afternoon on Friday. And checked the recordings on the cameras he'd set up a few days before. His Veronica could be a sneaky one and sometimes if he wanted to see her just being _her_ he had to resort to trickery. Saturday morning, when Veronica still hadn't returned to her apartment, Piz had gone by her office but there was no sign of her there either. After spending most of the night and early morning trying to find her, he had been exhausted and had had to go back to his rent by the week room to get some sleep, deciding that he would check the camera feeds again later, just in case he'd missed her.

Piz had really hoped that he would track down Veronica at some point, but when he arrived at her apartment, after sleeping away most of Saturday, he was again disappointed to find that she wasn't there. It was clear from the dishes in the sink and her disturbed closet that she had been home. _But my gift is still on her bed?_

Piz headed straight for one of the cameras he had hidden. He'd gone all out on this one. It was hidden in a picture frame that perfectly matched one she had on her mantel. Unfortunately the cost to make it blend in with her belongings had made it so he couldn't afford a model with wifi. He had to pull the SD card to get the video, which increased his risk of getting caught. Luckily, getting a copy of her keys had been much simpler than he'd expected—that new job of hers didn't have good security on their building, and her new apartment was much less strict than the one she'd had senior year of college. This building he had just walked right into from the garage. He'd even made of habit of coming and going at regular intervals so that the other residents would think he belonged.

Piz deftly removed the SD card and inserted it into the card reader attached to his laptop. The first few videos, which he'd seen before, were of Veronica moving around the apartment getting ready for work and relaxing before bed. There was another camera in her room, which he planned to check out next, hoping for something a bit more exciting than watching her watch Netflix. He was down to the last few files, when his world fell apart.

"_Bedroom? Couch? Wall? Fuck Veronica I need you right now."_ The guy from L &amp; L florist appeared on the screen with Veronica unbuttoning his jeans.

"_I don't care."_ Veronica's voice came through the speakers much huskier than Piz had ever heard it.

For the next twenty minutes Piz had to endure watching Veronica having sex not once but twice with the jackass florist. It was entirely unacceptable. He'd been dreaming of making love to her for years and here was this man she had just met…_not _making love to her.

Then, just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Piz played the final file. It was Veronica detailing in horrifying, and inaccurate, detail their lives together. _Stalking…I worship her!_ But the end of the file was the hardest.

Piz watched as this man—Logan Echolls—offered to let Veronica stay with him and Veronica accepted. Piz couldn't understand how she could look at Echolls like that when he himself was trying so hard. Piz was leaving her gifts, his words—well, not _his_ words but words that should mean everything to her. She barely knew this man, a son of an infamous celebrity. _How could she look at him like that? Like he was her world! _ _No, I'm supposed to be your world!_ Piz had been convinced that when she had relocated away from that lame detective she was ready to move on, to be with him. He had been biding his time. Knew she would eventually realize she loved him too. But now Logan Echolls. This was not how their great love story was supposed to happen.

* * *

A/N: I can't tell you how excited and flattered I am by all the wonderful comments/reviews this story has gotten. Thank you so much! And huge thanks go out to BryroseA for all the help she has given me with it. I have a couple of notes for you all :)

Logan as a florist is weird. Yes, I totally agree! This came from a prompt and I swear I was just scrolling through Tumblr minding my own business when I saw the prompt and that very first scene from chapter one hatched in my head and I just couldn't un-see it. So please blame my imagination – it is completely outside of my control ;)

In case you couldn't tell from my other story…I'm not a big fan of Veronica with anyone but Logan and my brain has a tendency to turn not-Logan into crazy people. So if you like Piz—sorry, not sorry.

And finally, a lot of you asked if I would be continuing it/how long this would be. I will be continuing it and there should be 5ish chapters.

Thanks again for reading/reviewing, I love hearing from you guys!


	3. Chapter 3

Here is Chapter 3 a little early :)

* * *

On Sunday morning, Mac stood in line at the Coffee Bean &amp; Tea Leaf down the street from her apartment. If she was lucky she could grab a pastry and her coffee and get back to her apartment before the brunch crowd appeared. But the line was moving at a snail's pace. She sighed audibly and reached for her cell phone, hoping to see a text or email…anything she could use to occupy the rest of her day.

"Even when you beat the brunch rush it's still brutal, huh?" The cute guy behind her in line asked.

"It should be a crime to have to wait this long for caffeine." Mac agreed.

"Since we're going to be here a while—" The cute guy held out his hand, "I'm Stewart Paulson."

"Mac, um…Cindy Mackenzie, but everyone calls me Mac." Mac returned the gesture.

_Thank the universe for cute guys in coffee shops._ Mac's male social life had been relegated to terrible blind dates since she and Max had broken up. The breakup hadn't been what she wanted but she couldn't live her life waiting for her partner to grow up. But this guy, he was wearing hipster chic as opposed to thrift store hipster, so he must have a job—was probably a contributing member of society even.

"So Stewart what do you do?" Mac couldn't resist asking as they continued to stand in the unmoving line.

"I do research for a radio station—even do a little hosting here or there." Stewart replied, "What about you Mac? Any chance that nickname is for more than just your last name?" He winked at her.

Mac stuttered, "H-how did you know that?"

"Because this is the Bay Area and because your shirt says, 'talk QWERTY to me'." He chuckled, pointing at her t-shirt.

"Oh, right! Yes, I'm the head of IT for an online magazine." She blushed with a hint of embarrassment.

"You don't say." He smiled warmly.

They continued to chat and get to know each other during the rest of their ten-minute wait. As they approached the register Stewart stepped forward. "I'll have a soy latte with vanilla and…" he turned to Mac gesturing for her to order.

"Oh, an almond milk chai." She said to the barista. "You didn't need to get my drink." She smiled up at Stewart.

"No I didn't, but I wanted to." He placed his hand on Mac's lower back and ushered her over to wait for their drinks. He reached over for a napkin and nabbed one of the pens off the counter. "Look Mac, I'm supposed to meet some people from work soon but I'd really like to see you again. Maybe in a place where we can sit down." He grinned and handed her his phone number. "Maybe we could get dinner together tonight, if you don't have other plans?"

Mac was speechless. She hadn't met someone she actually thought she could like since her breakup and that had been months now. The couple of dates she had gone on had been disasters, but with Stewart she thought they might actually hit it off.

"I don't have plans. I'd really like to get dinner." She reached for the pen, ripped the napkin in half and wrote her number down too. "Um…call me later?"

"You can bet on it." Stewart smiled sweetly and handed Mac her drink. They walked out together and as Mac turned to head back toward her apartment Stewart called out, "I'm really glad the line was so long this morning!"

Mac felt a blush creeping up her neck and waved to Stewart before he turned to head the opposite direction. _Oh crap! What am I going to wear?_

* * *

Veronica woke expecting to feel cold and stiff but was surprised instead to find herself back in Logan's luxurious bed and playing the role of the big spoon. Her arm was wrapped around Logan's waist; her face snuggled against his back.

"Logan?" Veronica reached her hand up and then skimmed it down his back, fingers lingering on each little scar, too dark with the drawn blinds to see, but vivid in her memory from the previous morning.

"Mmhmm." He mumbled sleepily.

"How did you become a florist?"

Logan slowly rolled to face Veronica. "How?" He rubbed his eyes, "That's easy, I spent some time working in a shop, took a few seminars and presto: florist." He said, his tone playful but his eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Nicely played. I guess I meant…why?" Veronica pressed, curling her hand around his jaw.

Logan continued to smile at her and reached his hand out to grab her hip. He pulled her closer against him and rolled onto his back. "Obviously I do it for the money and bitches." He quipped, indicating his beautiful home before lightly smacking her on the ass.

"Come on Logan. Be serious. You said you wanted to get to know me, well, the feeling is mutual. And you owe me a good story after hearing mine."

That earned her a genuine smile and a kiss on the forehead. "The short answer is because my mother loved beautiful things and this is a way for me to still feel close to her. She loved arranging flowers and creating beautiful spaces. My father found it far too feminine for his tastes, so he would leave us alone. I would sit and watch her for hours and sometimes help her move the bigger arrangements around or even help pick out flowers. It was one of the few things she and I could do together without my father interfering, at least until I got too old to 'flit like a fairy with my mommy's flowers'." Logan said in a condescending tone followed by a disgusted sigh. "It's ironic, you know? When I first opened up the shop I got a surprising amount of business because of Aaron. People wanting to get closer to my father and quite a few attempts to get me to do interviews. You know, that sort of thing. I even got a marriage proposal from one of Aaron's obsessed fans." He shook his head. "But the last year has been pretty quiet since I don't speak to the press and people realized finally that I wasn't going to give them the story they were after. Not to mention, I don't do anything news worthy these days."

Logan rolled on to his back, looked up at the ceiling and ran his hand through his hair, loudly exhaling a puff of air. Turning only his head, Logan met Veronica's eyes again. "But to get back to your question, I'm also a bit of a writer. The shop doesn't take up that much of my time, so I have plenty of time to write _and_ it keeps me from turning into a recluse." He shifted back onto his side, gave her a quick kiss and pulled her against him.

"And finally," Logan paused dramatically, "because it pisses my father off to no end." He laughed harshly, "My father, the Hollywood liberal in public, is actually a prejudiced, misogynistic, homophobe. It absolutely kills him that his son is a florist in San Francisco." Logan's laughter took on a slightly hysterical edge punctuated by several short breaths before he calmed enough to speak again. "But in public he has to act like he's proud and completely accepting of my _lifestyle_."

Veronica had followed the conversation until the part where he implied that he was gay. _Maybe he was bi? _"I'm confused."

Logan continued to laugh, a few tears running down his cheeks. "Sorry." He cleared his throat. "Sorry, it's just I don't think I've ever tried to explain to anyone why I chose to do this. It feels good." The arm that was wrapped around Veronica started rubbing light circles and abstract shapes across her back. "In case you couldn't tell, I love women. I'm not saying I couldn't be into a guy but I've yet to meet a man who does it for me—too bad really, that would have taken it up a notch." He snorted. "My dad is a complete bastard and it absolutely kills him to think I might be gay. I don't date publicly and refuse to comment on anything to do with my private life. He even offered me money—a lot of money—about a year ago if I would bring a female date to some premiere of his. But I refuse to play his games any more; I spent my whole childhood without a choice, but now..." He shrugged. "If he wants to make assumptions about my personal life that he doesn't like, well, he is welcome to them."

Veronica stared into his dark eyes and stretched to kiss him, not knowing what to say and not wanting to continue on the dark path that was both of their histories. She was positive that getting lost in each other again was a much better plan.

* * *

After a shower, Logan decided that what they needed was some breakfast. He threw on a t-shirt and jeans and headed to the kitchen to see what he could throw together. After perusing the refrigerator he decided he had everything he needed to make crepes. There were the fixings for omelets too, but he had definitely noticed Veronica's preference for sweet things, and who was he to deny her?

A few minutes later, Veronica appeared in the kitchen and hopped up on the counter opposite where Logan was in the process of making a strawberry and peach compote for the crepes. Logan took a quick taste of the fruit mixture and turned around to situate himself between Veronica legs. He leaned in, nipped at her full lower lip, and then kissed her.

"Mmm. You taste yummy." Veronica purred, licking her lips after he broke away to continue stirring the compote.

"I'm glad you like it. I've got crepes in the warming drawer and, if you are feeling so inclined, there is a pitcher of mimosas made up in the fridge."

"Don't mind if I do." She sing-songed, hopping off the counter.

Logan pulled the fruit off the heat and pulled out the crepes. He finished their plates with a sprinkling of powered sugar and set them at the small breakfast table by a set of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out at the Bay. Logan was starving from their morning activities, so he dug straight in as soon as Veronica joined him at the table.

After devouring the entire batch of crepes, Logan suggested they go back out on the balcony. It was a little chilly, but that actually suited him just fine, as cuddling with Veronica next to his fire pit and watching the fog burn off sounded like a great way to spend a Sunday morning. On his way out to the deck, Logan grabbed the pitcher of mimosas and moved it to the outdoor cooler then pulled two cashmere throws out of a cabinet by the outdoor sitting area.

He set the throws on the couch and pulled out his phone to open the remote app for the fire pit, sparking it to life.

Veronica started laughing, "Of course you have an app for your fire pit! Oh my god this is such a bachelor pad."

"I'll have you know the beer is imported and there is no mold anywhere except on the fancy cheese where it belongs. I have two lovely guest bedrooms and no disco balls or black lights. Therefore this is not a bachelor pad. Just well appointed." Logan smirked and scooted in behind Veronica, tossing one throw across her legs and wrapping the other around them both. He settled his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, a position that was quickly becoming one of his favorites.

"I know we didn't really talk about it much after we left your apartment but, Veronica, how did you meet Piz? How did that all happen?" Logan said in a hushed voice while he watched for occasional glimpses of boats out on the water through the fog.

"Ah, freshman year at Linfield. I was just a small town girl living in a small town world." She quipped.

"I thought you grew up in Portland? Not exactly a small town."

"All right, you got me. It was a few days before classes started and my best friend from high school, Wallace, and I were moving into the dorms. Well, Wallace's roommate got all of his stuff stolen in this ridiculous ploy. Seriously, it should have tipped me off. What kind of idiot leaves their car—filled with all of their worldly possessions—unlocked and unattended?" Veronica shook her head. "Anyway, that was Piz. He was Wallace's roommate our first two years of college. At first I thought he was a sweet guy. Normal. It was refreshing. After a couple of weeks he asked me out and I accepted."

Logan could feel Veronica tensing up and he almost regretted asking her to tell the rest of this story. He rubbed her shoulders hoping to alleviate some of the tension.

"God, Wallace was so excited for me. After my mom left, high school was…rough. And um…" Veronica cleared her throat and her voice came out thick, "I had a pretty bad experience."

Logan stopped massaging her shoulders and wrapped his arms back around her, snuggling into her. He'd suspected something had happened to her but had thought it had to do with Piz_. What kind of fucked-up world do we live in that she had to deal with more than that? Oh, that's right the kind where fathers beat their sons and mothers abandon their children._ Logan kissed her temple and gave her a gentle squeeze.

Veronica sniffled a little and wiped at her face, but her voice came out clear when she spoke next. "So, one date turned into more. I think eight or nine altogether and then because he was my BFF's roommate I saw him all the time. I tried, I really did try to have feelings for him, but he was just…I don't know. The _thing—the spark—_it just wasn't there. So, rather than string him along I told him that I just wanted to be friends. I did the whole 'it's me not you' deal."

"Did he start harassing you right away?" Logan asked softly.

"No, at first he acted like he understood. But he kept saying he knew I needed time. Turns out Wallace broke the BFF code and spilled some of my personal demons to Piz without my permission."

"I'm sorry." Logan knew all too well what it was like to have a confidence betrayed by someone you thought you could trust. Though, when it happened to him, those secrets tended to end up in the tabloids.

"It's okay, he thought he was helping. So, for a month or so Piz continued to act like he 'understood' and said that he'd wait, even though I kept telling him I wasn't going to change my mind. I guess to understand what happened next you need to know a little more about my family. My dad is a PI and back then he used to take a lot of bail jumper cases because the pay out is better. But taking on bail jumpers means you can have to leave at the drop of a hat. Back in high school I would stay with Wallace's family when my dad had to go out of town. That first Thanksgiving home from college, my dad got a bail jumper in Arizona and had to leave. Rather than be alone I went to the Fennel's, but it turned out that Wallace had invited Piz to spend Thanksgiving with them."

"But at that point he wasn't stalking you yet, right? You were just awkward 'friends'."

"That's right. Or at least that's what I thought. After dinner he cornered me and begged me to give 'us' another chance. He said that he was sure he could make me feel comfortable and help me get over my past experiences. It might have even been kind of sweet if that had been why I had actually ended things with him. But it wasn't. After he pushed, I ended up telling him that my not wanting to see him anymore had nothing to do with my history and everything to do with me not being attracted to him like that."

"I'm guessing he didn't take it well."

"Oh no, he took it _too_ well. He didn't believe me. Tried to kiss me. I rejected him a bit more firmly and left. When classes started back up he was everywhere I went; waiting outside my classes and leaving me notes at my room. But you know what the worst part was?"

Logan rubbed his cheek against the side of Veronica's head, "What?"

"No one would believe me. Not even Wallace. He thought I wasn't giving Piz a fair chance. That I was 'too damaged to see a good thing when it was in front of me'." Her voice was strained.

Logan heard Veronica sniffle again, "Hey, we can talk about something else. I'm sorry to make you think about all of that again." He kissed her again.

"No, it's all running through my head anyway. I haven't talked to many people about it. It's all so embarrassing—I know I didn't do anything wrong but it still feels that way." She leaned her head back on Logan's shoulder and sighed. "I know we…" Her words were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. "Sorry, that's me, I should get that." Veronica extricated herself from Logan's hold and walked back into the living room.

* * *

Veronica felt chilled in the absence of Logan's warm presence, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't relieved to get out of that conversation. While telling him about what had happened was weird, it was also strangely cathartic; she really couldn't believe how supportive he was. Not judging, just listening and offering her physical comfort. It was both wonderful and terrifying.

She reached her phone just before it went to voicemail. "Hello?"

"Who's your daddy?" Keith Mars' voice came over the line.

"I hate when you say that." Veronica laughed into the phone.

"How's tricks kid? Everything okay?" While his words were simple enough, Veronica knew they were being said with false calm.

"Ugh. Let me guess: Leo called you?" Veronica said exasperated.

"What? A father can't call his beloved daughter?"

"Cut the crap Dad, you never call on Sunday, and we've already spoken twice this week."

"Fine, fine…Leo called me. He's worried about you sweetheart. Can you blame him? He said Piz may have popped back up again and he isn't there to protect you. He feels like you threw away two years of something special when you moved."

"I know you think I did too, but Leo and I weren't right for each other. It never would have worked. Leo wanted someone to settle down with. Start a family. And I'm not there. Honestly, I was never going to be _there_ with him."

For several long silent seconds the line was filled with Keith's unspoken opinion on Veronica's decision to leave or 'run away' as he had said while she packed. "Honey, I don't want to argue…I called because I'm worried that Piz might be stalking you again."

"It does look like it's Piz, though technically, I don't have any definitive proof. Just some flowers and creepy cards."

"Leo said whoever it is had been in your apartment." Keith's tone was chastising.

"Yeah, but I'm staying somewhere else until the police figure it out." Veronica explained.

"Leo said you told him you weren't alone, but is that really true? I can be there by the end of the day today. Or maybe you should come up for a visit? I know Wallace and Daryl would love to see you."

"No Dad, really I'm fine. I'm staying with a…friend."

"Mac?"

"No, not Mac. You don't know them." Veronica replied evasively. _What is wrong with me? I should have just said I was staying with Mac._

"'Them?' Really, Veronica? And how do you know Logan Echolls? Leo mentioned him when he called; said he was with you when you reported the break-in." Veronica recognized Keith's interrogator voice.

"Hey! I didn't tell Leo who I was with. He's checking up on me?" Veronica was moving from annoyed to pissed. _Who the hell did he think he was?_

"Leo's worried Veronica. And so am I. That kid's father was accused of murder and he himself was accused of a few pretty bad things too. Please tell me that isn't who you're staying with? Some one night stand!"

"Wow Dad. Thanks. Because you and I don't know anything about being accused of things we didn't do. You know what? Why don't you give me a call when you're calmer and when you do, so help me, do not try to convince me that I made a mistake breaking it off with Leo. I'm done justifying my decisions. Don't you want me to be happy?" Veronica was loosing steam, first all of the emotional upheaval of the stalking and then to have her dad be so judgmental of her decisions.

"Of course I want you to be happy Veronica. I just don't see how…you know what, you're right. We'll talk about this later. Right now I just need to know you're safe." Keith sounded exhausted.

"Yes, I promise I'm safe. Where I'm staying has a lot of security including a bodyguard, courtesy of 'that kid'." Veronica tried not to be too sarcastic but knew her tone was still on the petulant side.

"Okay honey. I'm going to try to trust you on this. Operative word being _try_. I need you to keep me up to date or I'm going to worry."

"I will, the GPS is still activated in my cell phone and I'll text you the name of the security company supplying the bodyguard so you can check them out. And I know you'll be doing a background check on Logan, so just get it over with. I love you, Dad." She said, ending the conversation.

"I love you too, Veronica."

Veronica ended the call and, turning to head back to the deck, realized that she hadn't shut the door behind her. Logan had certainly heard the entire call—especially the parts where Veronica had raised her voice.

Veronica walked through the door and was about to seek out the pitcher of mimosas when Logan held a glass out for her.

"I thought you might want to lighten the mood a bit before I ask you about that landmine filled conversation." He smiled sweetly at her.

"You have no idea."

* * *

An hour and several mimosas later, the fog had burned off and Veronica found herself swaying in Logan's arms while he softly sang along with Elvis.

"_Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you," _Logan pressed a few lingering kisses to Veronica's lips, _ "Shall I stay, would it be a sin, If I can't help falling in love with you_."

Logan's voice against her ear gave her goose bumps, while the feel of his hands caressing her hips sent warmth all through her. It was a strange and delightful clash of sensations.

The song changed to Frank Sinatra 'Come Fly With Me' and Logan stilled Veronica in his arms.

"Do you know how to foxtrot?" Logan's eyes sparkled as he looked down at Veronica.

"Yeah, I do." She smirked.

Logan's hold on her changed quickly and he started leading her around the big deck in a ballroom frame, impressively avoiding furniture despite them both being more than tipsy. And he did it all while still singing along with the Chairman.

"_You just say the words and we'll beat birds down to Acapulco bay. It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say, Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly, Pack up, let's fly away."_

As the song swelled Logan spun Veronica out and back in to a low dip that he punctuated with a kiss first to her lips and then his lips slid against her cheek to her ear, "I think it's time for me to _fly you to the moon._"

Veronica couldn't help but giggle at the cheesy line but as his lips trailed down her neck her giggle turned to a strangled moan. "Let me guess, you want to play among my stars?" She decided playing along would be a lot more fun.

"You know it." Logan swept her up and twirled them through the living room stopping here and there to press sloppy, laughter filled kisses to her lips and neck. It took them a while to make it back to his bedroom but the giddy joyful tone of the interlude had Veronica floating on a cloud.

Logan tossed Veronica playfully on to the bed. She stared up at him with an inviting grin, waiting for him to join her. In that moment Logan's expression changed, the playfulness disappeared and was replaced by something deeper, darker. Veronica's heart skipped a beat as he slowly crawled on to the bed and up her body

"If I do anything that isn't okay, just tell me." His voice was rough as he sat up and pulled his shirt off.

Veronica swallowed as she took in his toned body; even though she had seen him naked more times than she could count in the last three days the sight of him caused heat to pool low in her. She licked her lips and nodded her head.

"I need to hear you say it. Tell me Veronica."

"I'll tell you if anything isn't okay." She barely breathed the words. Her whole body felt like she was on pins and needles; anxious and excited to see what he was going to do.

Logan pulled the long-sleeved tee she had put on that morning over her head and bent to kiss her stomach. But rather than going lower, as he had every other time, he worked his way up her body. His arm slid behind her back and lifted her chest up from the bed, unclasping her bra at the same time. His lips kept moving up until he was kissing her again. Deep and drugging. Veronica was sure she didn't know her own name in that moment and didn't care, all that mattered was what his mouth was doing to her and the way he held her tight against him.

She was so absorbed in the kiss that she didn't realize he had removed her pants until she felt him touching her.

"Mmm, Veronica. You're so wet." He hummed into the next kiss and then pulled away. "I want…Veronica I want you to kneel here." Logan gestured to the space on the bed in front of him.

Veronica pushed her pants off where they hung from her ankles and moved to kneel in front of Logan. He moved forward and kissed her. Veronica heard the soft thump of Logan's jeans hitting the floor but his lips never left hers. His hands trailed down from her neck, along the sides of her breasts, lightly skimming her sides before settling on her hips. He applied a gentle pressure to her hips, turning her as he broke the kiss.

"Face that way?" He asked, indicating that he wanted her to turn away from him.

Veronica let his hands guide her to the position he wanted her in. When she was facing the opposite direction she saw herself reflected in the one-way glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows that ran along that side of the bedroom. She saw Logan reach around to touch her before she felt his warm hands around her collarbone. His lips followed the path of his hand as he kissed his way from the edge of her shoulder all the way up to her ear.

Veronica was vibrating in anticipation and found that her anxiety had faded. Wanting to encourage him to continue, Veronica turned her head to him and met him in a gentle kiss. "So good Logan, don't stop." She whispered.

Logan put pressure on her hips again urging her to move further to the middle of the bed. He climbed on to the bed behind her and moved his body flush against hers. His erection was hard and hot against her lower back and then her ass as she felt him settle back onto his heels. One of his hands traveled up her side to her breast, gently kneading the soft flesh while the other hand moved between their bodies, placing him at her entrance. He slowly stroked up into her at the same time as he firmly pulled her nipple between his fingers.

The dual sensations had Veronica moaning in pleasure. She wrapped her arm back around his neck to help steady herself as Logan's, now free, hand moved up to grasp her other breast. He used his hold to pull her into each of his thrusts. Veronica felt a delicious pressure building with each meeting of their bodies.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who could feel that she was getting close, "Touch yourself, baby." At Veronica's hesitation, Logan moved his hand to bring her free hand between her legs. He guided her movements for a few strokes waiting for her to get comfortable. "That's it," he hummed into her shoulder and returned his hand to her breast.

Just when Veronica didn't think she could take anymore, Logan increased his pace. "Please Logan, so close." She begged, unsure of what she was begging for. He bit down on her neck where it met her shoulder and pleasure coursed through her until she saw stars.

Veronica didn't know how much time had passed but she felt Logan set her limp body forward onto her forearms while he continued to surge into her from behind, his hands firmly on her hips. The sensations were overwhelming and almost unbelievably she felt herself building again. "God Logan, harder, please," she whimpered.

"I know baby, I've got you." Logan's hold tightened and his movements became erratic. He slipped a hand between her legs and Veronica's world blew apart again in a flash of white.

* * *

Logan was wrapped completely around Veronica and a little on top of her when reality came back into focus. He carefully rolled so that she was resting on his chest. She was still making small noises and when her face made contact with his chest he felt dampness.

"Veronica? Are you okay? Did I hurt you? God, I'm so sorry; I got completely carried away." Logan sat up and started checking her over, finding small bruises at her hips and a big hickey forming on her neck.

_Fuck!_

Veronica sniffled, "No Logan. It's not that. I've…I've just never felt like that before." She looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks.

"You're crying?" Logan was at a loss, her tone said she was happy but the tears said the opposite.

"Yes, oh my god, that was amazing. I'm sorry; I'm just hitting a physical and emotional overload. Tears come with the territory."

Logan reached up and wiped the last of her tears away then kissed her softly. "I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed myself." He kissed her again, and then looked at the clock. It was already three in the afternoon and they hadn't had lunch.

As if on cue, Veronica's stomach growled, Logan couldn't help but laugh. "Come on Bobcat, let's go feed you."

"Bobcat?" Veronica asked, her face scrunched up in distaste.

"Definitely. Feisty and prickly one minute, and purring the next. Oh yeah, definitely a Bobcat." Logan laughed as he pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and tossed Veronica the t-shirt he'd been wearing earlier.

In the kitchen, Logan pulled out the left over lasagna, popped it into the microwave to reheat, and put together a small salad. "We're eating lunch so late, what do you want to do for dinner later?"

Veronica shrugged, "Sushi? Any good places nearby that deliver?"

Logan smiled, "As a matter of fact there is—menu is in the top drawer on the other side of the island." He gestured in the general direction and checked the lasagna.

Veronica was inspecting the menu while Logan set out their lunch of leftovers. "Does it look to your taste?" He couldn't help but smile at her tousled hair, flushed cheeks, and sparkling eyes. _God, she's beautiful like this._

"Yeah, I think I'll be able to make this work. They're even open late on Sunday." Veronica set the menu aside and focused on the food in front of her.

Logan found himself watching her eat more than actually eating himself. He shook his head, trying to clear away the sense of euphoria that was still clouding his ability to think and behave normally. In fact, there was nothing normal about how he was behaving. He was totally taken with Veronica and had shared things with her he hadn't ever said out loud, let alone to another person. It wouldn't do for her to catch him watching her like a lovesick teenager and scare her off before he even get a chance to talk to her about this being more than just a fling.

"When you're done eating, what'd you say we do something super normal?" Logan asked.

Veronica looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"We never did get around to that full tour. But, as it happens, I have another den downstairs that is set up as a screening room." Logan smiled a little sheepishly realizing that he could have just said he had a big TV downstairs. _Oh, well, some Hollywood habits die-hard. _And then he couldn't help but chuckle at his stupid reference.

"I could go for a movie. Any chance you've got _The Big Lewbowski_?"

_I am going to marry this girl, _Logan thought.

"I'm pretty sure I have it."

* * *

Ratner sat across the street from Echolls' house. The place was pretty big and had one of those views people pay millions for out here. Guess it wasn't a surprise that the son of Aaron Echolls had such nice digs. But what he did find surprising was that he'd found very little about Logan Echolls that was relevant for the last few years. Almost no tabloid coverage, only a couple of charity events and mentions of his business in reference to a couple of high profile weddings, but otherwise basically nothing for the last two years.

And Ratner's principal, who he thought of as Malibu Skipper, she was a nobody. Veronica Mars, by all accounts, was just some girl. He'd had to dig really deep to find anything of interest. Her career was unremarkable up to this point. Hell, the most interesting thing he'd found out about her was that her mother had been the high school sweetheart of some software tycoon years before marrying Keith Mars and having Veronica.

Ratner adjusted his position. Years of training had taught him how to avoid the usual surveillance mistakes. The sun was still looming low in the sky and from his vantage point the sunset was beautiful, but his job wasn't to enjoy the sunset like his clients currently were, nope, his job was to make sure they got to enjoy that sunset. Sure he hadn't been able to see whatever went on in the house but the three times they'd had sex on the deck had been in full view. _It's a good fucking thing this profession pays so well, or I'd never put up with having to watch a client fuck some little blonde senseless. Aren't they tired yet?_ Ratner thought, pretending he wasn't bitter or jealous.

Ratner's attention was quickly pulled to the intersection that led to his client's home. A late model Honda Civic zipped past and parked in front of Echolls' place. Ratner knew they were expecting a delivery but didn't want to risk the stalker utilizing such a simple means of contact. He slipped out of the shadows and met the startled delivery guy at the door.

"Thank you." Ratner said, pressing a few bills into the kid's hand as a tip and accepting the bags.

"Thanks man, oh and here, this was added to the delivery too." The kid reached back in the car and pulled out a bouquet of ugly silk tulips and an envelope.

"Who gave these to you?" Ratner asked sternly.

"No one man, they were just sitting with the delivery with a note to drop them off at this address. Sometimes orders include weird shit like this so I didn't think anything of it."

Ratner observed the kid and decided that there were no signs he was lying and that he certainly was not the stalker they were seeking.

"All right. Get out of here." Ratner dismissed him and opened the envelope that accompanied the fake flowers.

"Standing by and waiting at your backdoor. All this time how could you not know, baby? You belong with me_. —_ Taylor Swift, _You Belong With Me_

Taylor may have written the words but I need you to know—you belong to me. Come home, I'll be waiting at your backdoor.

_Echolls wasn't kidding—this guy needs to get some better material._

* * *

Piz put on the only suit he had brought with him to San Francisco. It looked nice and fit him well despite being off the rack. It was one of the few times Piz was happy to be thoroughly average when it came to his size and build. The grey suit had been to the dry cleaners and his pale yellow dress shirt gave it the impression of being a light summer ensemble. Piz was very pleased with himself.

He grabbed his wallet, cell phone, and two small vials of clear liquid on his way out the door.

Piz had made reservations at a nice, but not terribly expensive, restaurant known for its high-class pub fare and having a large vegetarian menu. Seemed contradictory to Piz but he didn't care. This dinner was how he would finally get Veronica. He was sure of it.

It was a short cab ride to the pub and he saw his date climbing out of her cab just as his pulled up to the curb. Piz quickly paid the driver and approached the brunette who he was sure he would have found lovely before he'd met Veronica. Even the purple streaks in her hair complemented her looks. But none of that mattered. This was about Veronica.

Piz took a few skipping steps to catch up to his date, "Mac! I'm so glad you could make it." He said putting as much enthusiasm as he could into this voice.

"Me too, Stewart, me too."

* * *

A/N: Wow, I want to thank everyone who is reading and reviewing/commenting on this story! So many great comments :) You all are the best! Special thanks the BryroseA for her great beta-ing! And also to Bondopoulos for her help with some last minute changes :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Where to?" Logan asked as they climbed into the town car the security company provided.

Veronica gave an address on the edge of the financial district to the driver.

"Really? I thought that was mostly news media and publishing over there." Logan said a little confused. He'd been expecting either a studio or one of the galleries.

"Well, yeah…it is mostly. You know I'm a journalist, right?"

"What? No—you only told me about photography and with all the photographs at your apartment… I...What the fuck do you mean you're a journalist!?" Logan couldn't control his volume and his temper was rising.

"I thought I said…" Veronica said softly, shifting away from Logan a bit. "I'm an investigative reporter, I've mostly done domestic politics up until now. I don't do anything society or tabloid related or even adjacent." Her face had paled and her breaths were a little shallow, "Oh my god. I would never do that—you think I'm here with you for a story. I swear that's not true. Not even close."

Logan was completely still. He wasn't sure what to do or say. Was she telling the truth? Was she lying? If she was lying, she already had all she needed to write a pretty horrific story.

They pulled up in front of her building. Logan hadn't been able to move for the last few blocks and couldn't bring himself to look at Veronica.

"You've been betrayed before. I get it. I really do. Please look up my byline Logan. I would never share anything about your personal life." She glanced out the window for a moment before turning upset eyes back to him. "I have to go, but please Logan that's not what this is at all." She leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, but Logan couldn't bring himself to look at her again after seeing the distress in her eyes. "I know when a good thing is in front of me…and you are so much more than just good."

He waited until she was out of the car to turn and watch her go into the building. His heart was beating painfully against his chest and he couldn't believe he had been this stupid. He asked the driver to take him back home since his part-time employee ran the shop on Mondays.

Once back home, Logan headed straight for a bottle of scotch and then to his home office. He tried, unsuccessfully, to focus on editing his current manuscript but it all read flat and detached. His editor had been telling him that he should write what he knew, but he wasn't ready to bare those wounds. He wanted to write the Great American Novel, not rehash his life with Aaron.

The more he tried to focus on his work, the harder it became; he couldn't stop thinking about Veronica. This was why he didn't have relationships. Why he never let anyone other than a very, very small group of friends that had proved their trustworthiness over the years get close. Not only was it distracting but the risk—the pain—of betrayal was too great.

Sure, he'd brought more than a few pretty women home with him, even casually dated a few times. But he never shared personal details about his life and as soon as they started asking he would stop seeing them. He still couldn't believe he'd told her about where his scars came from. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. She's going to publish that Aaron beat me and then I'm going to have to deal with…_

Logan slammed his empty tumbler on the desk.

"Mr. Echolls?" Ratner's voice came from the doorway, accompanied by a soft knock on the door.

"What?" Logan's voice was harsher than he'd intended, but he was hurting. He'd done so well these last few years. No arrests, no public displays. Just a quiet life.

"Samson filled me in on what happened this morning."

Logan stared at Ratner confused, "Samson?"

"Brock Samson, the driver—big, scary, has a mullet. He's one of my guys. I thought you should know I did a background check on Ms. Mars."

"Why would you do that?" Logan felt himself getting angry at the invasion of her privacy, and then laughed at the absurdity of it.

"SOP. What she said is accurate; she does not write those kind of pieces." Logan met Ratner's eyes and took in his serious expression. "She's currently investigating immigration and customs enforcement corruption. The online magazine she works for does not publish celebrity bullshit."

Logan lowered his face to his hands. "Shit," he hissed under his breath. "Shit. What was the plan for her security today?" Logan's voice was slightly muffled by his hands.

"One of my guys is set up in her building. He'll track her for the next few hours and then I'll take back over this afternoon, Samson will stay here. If you want us to continue, that is."

"You're sure?" Logan asked meeting Ratner's gaze again.

"Reasonably sure. As for the stalker, I'm certain that's true—years of evidence to back it up—I don't think she showed up at your shop looking for a story. That's my professional opinion."

"Okay. Keep someone on her and tonight when she's done for the day bring her back here. I'll figure out a way to make it right."

"You might want to read some of her stuff. She hasn't done a lot, but she's good. Unique thought process."

Logan smirked at Ratner. "You don't say?"

* * *

Mac woke up feeling groggy and uncomfortable. She blinked her eyes several times and found that, rather than being in her bed, she was sitting up in a chair with her hands tied to the armrests. _What the hell happened?_

The last thing Mac could remember was inviting Stewart into her apartment for a nightcap. And maybe she'd been hoping for a bit more. She'd enjoyed Stewart's company. He may have been a bit dull but he was at least an order of magnitude better than the last few losers she'd been out with…

_Concentrate, Mac!_ She refocused her fuzzy brain. He'd come in for a drink. _We were laughing and then nothing. Just nothing. Great, only I would get drugged by the first guy I invite back to my apartment since my breakup. _

She shifted around as much as her bonds would allow. It could be worse, she supposed; she may have been drugged but at least it didn't seem like he had assaulted her. She'd take any win she could get at this point.

Mac looked around the room, she was still in her apartment but she didn't see any sign of Stewart. _This is so not good._

* * *

Veronica sat at her desk feeling forlorn. She'd thought about calling or texting Logan but she didn't want to push him. All she could do was hope that he believed her after he cooled down. Either way, he would have to see her when she picked up her things from his place so she'd have one more chance to convince him.

Or maybe she wouldn't. She could just have someone else pick up her things and she could go find a hotel where she could camp out until they found Piz. _Fucking Piz. Still ruining my life…_

"Hey Veronica, there's a call for you." The secretary that handled her and several of the other reporters called into her office.

Veronica looked down at her office phone and saw the blinking light. _Please be Logan_.

"Veronica Mars." She answered.

"Hey Ronnie, it's Mac." Mac's voice came through the phone, but she sounded weird and what was with calling her 'Ronnie'? Mac had never called her that before, in fact, Veronica was sure she had told Mac that it was a nickname she didn't like.

"Hey Mac…" she drew out her name, "Everything okay? We missed you at the morning coffee meeting."

"Um…yeah. Look I can't come in today but I need some stuff from my office. Any chance you could bring it to me at lunch?" Mac's voice still sounded strange, but not like she was sick.

"No can do, girly-girl. Got an interview during lunch that I can't reschedule. I can bring whatever it is by after work though. Probably 5:30. That work?"

"Yes, sounds spectacular. See you then."

"Uh…aren't you going to tell me what I need to grab?" Veronica was really confused at this point. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course, of course. Can you transfer the Sinclair file to the tablet sitting on my desk and bring it?"

"All right. See you tonight." Veronica hung up the phone, perplexed at the request.

* * *

After Ratner had left, Logan decided to follow his suggestion and looked up Veronica. Sure enough none of her articles were even remotely society or tabloid related. Instead she had done some interesting stories that often included photographs that reflected the emotional tone of the piece. The bylines showed that she was both the writer and the photographer.

After skimming through what he could find, Logan tried to decide if he was still upset that she hadn't mentioned she was a reporter when he'd mentioned all the trouble he'd had with her brethren. _Who am I kidding? We haven't even known each other for four days and most of that time hasn't exactly been spent 'talking'._

How do you say, 'I'm sorry we fought, can we make up with some hot sex and then maybe talk more about ourselves more'? Turns out Hallmark doesn't make a card for that occasion.

It was way too soon for jewelry and flowers just seemed contrived considering his profession. _You're overthinking this…just tell her you're sorry and hopefully she'll understand why you reacted the way you did._ Logan gave himself a pep talk and decided that breaking out a bottle of nice wine and cooking for her was probably about the only thing that was appropriate, given the situation.

It was a funny feeling, actually, wanting to fix this. He'd ended things immediately with the last few women he had seen when they had started pushing for personal information and had never looked back. But Veronica was different, even when he'd been feeling betrayed, he'd still wanted to be with her. The relief he'd felt after talking to Ratner was so strong that it had him wondering if he could have forgiven her if she _had_ been trying to get a story…_maybe as long as it wasn't just about the story after getting to know me…_

Logan jumped out of his chair—he did not want to continue that line of thought. What he needed was to work out his tension and some of his pent up aggression. All of the sex he'd been having the last few days had kept him in a pretty relaxed state, but after this morning he was feeling the need to work over the punching bag. He changed quickly into a pair of basketball shorts and headed to the garage where he had weights, and body and speed bags set up.

As so often happened when he was frustrated or angry, Logan's thoughts turned to Aaron and his childhood. After turning eighteen he'd followed through with the promise he'd made Aaron after his mother had died. _Bon voyage!_ Logan visualized the angry look on Aaron's face as he punched and kicked the body bag, slowly at first then picking up speed as his muscles warmed up.

It had been two days after his birthday, which Aaron still didn't know, and only three months left of his Senior year, when Logan had packed up his things and left for the last time. After the reading of his mother's will Logan had had most of her things put into storage, making getting out much easier than it might have been otherwise. He spent the next few months living in various friends' pool houses, moving around every few weeks, hoping to keep Aaron from finding out where he was staying. He'd even traded his obnoxious yellow Xterra in for a generic black Range Rover sport with heavily tinted windows, in an attempt to make his movements harder to track until he could leave Neptune.

In addition to moving frequently, Logan hadn't been lax in his preparations for when Aaron found him. As a child and before his mother's death he'd taken the 'punishments,' but never again. Logan had hired himself a personal trainer and started taking MMA classes. No way in hell would Aaron ever get the drop on him again; he was no one's victim, not anymore.

In the end it all hadn't been necessary. Aaron hadn't tried to contact Logan at all during those last few months of high school; he hadn't even shown up for graduation. Rather than a graduation present, Logan had received a letter from the family lawyers letting him know the first tier of his trust had been released and that Aaron would be moving to the New York apartment to focus on less commercial work. The letter had also included keys and the new codes for the Echolls estate, which Logan promptly tossed in a box of financial records, not wanting to have anything to do with that place ever again. A few weeks later Logan received a late acceptance to Hearst College thanks to a little help from a friend and his high standardized test scores.

Aaron's first attempt at contact came when Logan won an award for a short story he wrote his second year of college. Logan ignored the phone calls until he received a letter informing him of new requirements for the release of the next tier of his trust from the trustees. Among the requirements was meeting with the trustees at specific intervals including several leading up to his twenty-first birthday, when the second tier of his trust was scheduled to be released, and 'regular communication' with Aaron. Over the last five years Logan had been able to keep communication with Aaron mostly to phone calls and emails with a handful of meetings, which always included at least one of the other trustees. Much to Logan's chagrin another one of those meetings was rapidly approaching. His twenty-fifth birthday marked the release of his trust in full, meaning over the next few months he would have to go to at least three meetings, if not more.

Logan stepped away from the body bag, stretched his wrapped hands, and moved over to the speed bag hitting it in a well-practiced pattern. Jab, step, jab-jab, step, jab. He repeated the motions until the rhythm took over his mind, pushing away thoughts of his childhood and Aaron. He speed up and alternated hands, eventually adding in a mix of hooks, uppercuts, and straights.

Thirty minutes later and Logan was feeling more relaxed in his own skin. Taking two stairs at a time, he made his way up to the kitchen and blended up a protein shake, which he took out on the balcony. He leaned against the railing and watched a few boats moving through the water below and started planning out his 'we need to work on our communication skills' dinner—or maybe it would be better to think of it as a 'how do you feel about us developing communication skills?' dinner.

Logan's stomach filled with butterflies and his heart raced. He shook his head as he finished the last of the protein shake. _It's not like I'm asking her to go steady…_ Logan couldn't help but laugh at the visual, him offering a pink twin-set clad Veronica a letterman's jacket and his class pin. Except, of course, Logan hadn't played sports in school, he was pretty sure he didn't have a class pin, and if Veronica had ever worn twin-sets he'd be surprised as hell. When she'd shown up at his shop just a few days ago she'd been wearing ass kicking biker boots, tight jeans, and a leather motorcycle jacket over a low cut red t-shirt. In a word:_ hot_.

Logan's mind filled with visions of journalist Veronica, hunting down leads, not taking any bullshit from intimidating goons, and protecting reluctant sources. He turned on his heel and headed straight for his office. He just might be onto something.

* * *

Mac could tell that Stewart was disappointed that Veronica wouldn't be coming over until the afternoon. He kept muttering about changing reservations and not liking last minute cancellations. For Mac's part she just tried to stay quiet and not attract his attention. She had no clue what was going on. _How does Stewart know Veronica?_

Even as quiet as Mac was being, her stomach growling alerted Stewart to her presence again.

"Well, what a terrible guest I am. You didn't get breakfast and here it is after one. Of course you're hungry. We can't have Veronica's best friend starving, now can we?" Stewart said in a sweet tone with a smile on his face as he hustled into the kitchen.

A few minutes later he returned with the container of stir fry that Mac had made a few nights ago. At least he'd heated it up.

"If I untie one arm will you behave?" Stewart asked in a sing-song voice.

Mac nodded quickly, "Yes. I'll stay right here and just eat."

"Great!" Stewart smiled at her, untied her right arm, and moved the chair up to the small table. He then took a seat in the chair next to her. "So Mac, I already feel like I know so much about you. But I bet you're dying to know more about me. About Veronica's and my epic journey." Stewart smiled dreamily as if he could see something that Mac could not.

Mac wasn't sure but she figured it couldn't hurt to find out more about her situation. "Yes, Stewart. How did you and Veronica meet?" She hoped that was a safe place to start.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot I haven't given you my real name yet. Couldn't risk you ruining Veronica's surprise, now could I." He gave her the wagged his finger as if scolding a small child. "I'm Piz—Stosh Piznarski—and Veronica Mars is the love of my life. Surely she's told you all about me." He looked at Mac expectantly.

"Um…I guess. You know Veronica, she's not much of a sharer." Mac offered since she got the feeling that saying she had no idea who he was and that Veronica had never so much as mentioned him wouldn't go over well.

"That is true. My little woman can be tricksy. I was the roommate of a good friend of hers in college. It was love at first sight. Of course there were other issues that got in our way. That terrible business when she was in high school really made her afraid of intimacy." Piz nodded knowingly.

Mac searched her memory for any conversation she'd had with Veronica that might make any of this make sense. But she was drawing a blank because as it turned out Veronica had shared very little about her personal life with Mac. At the time Mac had appreciated it, as she had plenty of things she didn't want to share either. But at this moment it would have been helpful to know a bit more about her friend.

"With your help Mac, I think I'm going to finally be able to help Veronica put her past behind her. Of course I had this whole dinner date planned which won't work now since she won't be here until after 5:30 and the only reservation I could get at a restaurant worthy of her was for 5:15." Piz rambled, starting to sound a bit agitated.

Piz stalked around the room, "I guess you could just go out for a bit and I could order food in here." He mumbled to himself looking around. He turned abruptly, "Mac, you're a woman. Maybe you can give me some advice."

"Sure…what kind of advice?"

"Like I said Veronica is afraid of intimacy. What can I do to make her more comfortable? I don't want her to be afraid of me or have, like, a flashback or something like that." Piz said with complete sincerity.

_What the hell is wrong with this guy? _ Mac had no clue anything had happened to Veronica; maybe this guy was just looney-tunes? "I'm not sure I can help you. I have no idea what happened to Veronica. And I'm pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate us talking about it if she knew." Mac said hoping Piz would change topics.

"Oh, you're right. So we'll have to promise not to tell her. Her friend Wallace—he's my friend too—is who told me what happened so I could help her." Piz leaned in and lowered his voice. "She was drugged and raped at a party. She still doesn't know who did it." Piz moved back around the table to take the free chair again.

"Jesus!" Mac exclaimed. "D-did you…"

"No! I would never hurt her." Piz slammed his fist on the table causing Mac's now empty container of food to fall to the floor. Piz ducked down to pick it up and quickly tied Mac's arm back to the chair.

"I'm going to clean up in here a bit. As a thank you for you letting me use your place as a staging ground for Veronica's surprise." Piz said with renewed glee, his previous line of thought apparently forgotten. "She is going to be so excited. I just know it."

* * *

Veronica headed into Mac's office to grab the requested items. The tablet was easy to find; leaving her to transfer the requested file onto said tablet since secure documents on the server couldn't be printed or accessed outside of the building except with their secure tablets. It was designed to protect sources and prevent scooping of stories by competitors. Veronica found two Sinclair files on the server. One was a story covered by the San Diego Union Tribune in the '80s: babies switched at birth in…_Neptune_.

_Neptune…as in where Logan grew up? She did say he looked familiar. Do Mac and Logan know each other?_ Veronica hoped she'd get to ask Logan if he knew Mac. It seemed pretty odd that Mac would have sent her to grab something like this. And then Veronica clicked on the second Sinclair file. This one covered an abduction from several years ago where a man used his ex-wife's best friend to get to the ex-wife. _Why would Mac want this?_ Mac didn't do any of the reporting, though she did help with accessing information from less than 'accessible' locations, but again this story didn't seem like the kind of thing Mac would be helping on, especially since it had already been published.

_Maybe I misheard her?_ Veronica was on edge and jumpy with everything going on with Piz and then the fight with Logan, making it entirely possible she had misunderstood Mac. Veronica tried Mac's number twice and sent a text message but received no response. She decided to transfer both files to the tablet just in case. Veronica considered the two Sinclair files again while she waited for the transfer. Her mind kept coming back to the abduction. Mac had been pretty strange on the phone. She had been on a date the night before with some guy she met at a coffee shop, according to the excited email Veronica had received yesterday but Mac hadn't mentioned it at all on the phone. Then she'd almost forgotten to tell Veronica what to pick up. It was very strange and felt wrong to Veronica. Could this be Piz? Surely not, how would he know anything about Mac? _Come on Veronica! He's been stalking you for probably as long as you've been living in the city…of course he knows about your only friend here._ But even if he did know about Mac, Veronica couldn't imagine Piz approaching her.

Veronica decided better safe than sorry and picked up her cell phone, quickly punching in the number Ratner had given her for emergencies. _I really hope Logan didn't pull my security detail._

"Ms. Mars, are you okay? I'm down in the lobby." Ratner's clear voice came through her phone.

"Oh thank god," Veronica sighed into the phone, proceeding to fill Ratner in on the call from Mac and her speculations.

"Unique mind." Veronica heard Ratner mumble into the phone.

"What?" She asked wondering what he was talking about.

"Nothing. You told her you'd be by at 5:30 so if we're going to be prepared we should leave in the next ten minutes. You and I will take a cab to her building where we will be met by the other two members of my team. Once we've established that Piznarski is there we will call in the police."

"Okay, I'll wrap things up here and meet you in the lobby." Veronica ended the call, grabbed her things from her desk, and headed to the elevator.

Ratner was waiting in the lobby and together they got into a cab. "Ms. Mars you keep some rather interesting company."

"I'm sorry?" Veronica was confused by the non sequitur.

"Your lunch interview…Russian mob?" Ratner gave her side-eye.

"Oh that. Well, yeah. I'm trying to expose corruption within ICE and it turns out its not nearly as menacing you might expect—caviar and vodka. Bribes to keep from paying the higher tax rate, tariffs, and avoid customs hold ups. I'm certain the ICE and ATF agents involved are up to worse things but you know, proof…" She shrugged.

"Please be careful, those are dangerous people, even when you're only talking about food and alcohol imports."

"Careful is my middle name." Veronica smiled winningly.

"I find that hard to believe."

Veronica decided it was time for a change of subject. "I was surprised you took my call. How much of my soul will I need to sell to pay for your services?" She asked.

"Mr. Echolls didn't terminate our services. No soul selling will be necessary."

"Are you sure? He was pretty mad; maybe he just hasn't called you yet."

"I've been giving him updates all day. He wants you to be safe and to see you when we are done checking on Ms. Mackenzie."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Come on Ratner, give me something to work with here."

Ratner sighed, "Fine _Mars,_ I told him that nothing in my background check of you showed that you were a tabloid reporter. I told him that in my professional opinion you were not trying to scam him. If I discover that I was wrong, you'll be selling more than your soul."

Veronica couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "I owe you one."

"Just promise not to have sex out on the deck again and we'll call it even." Ratner smirked at her as the taxi pulled to a stop in from of Mac's building.

"Well, that isn't embarrassing at all." Veronica tried to hide her blush as she paid the driver and climbed out of the car.

Together they walked into Mac's building and waited in the lobby for the other members of Ratner's team.

Ratner introduced Samson and Farmer to Veronica, who couldn't help but smirk. "You were the driver this morning and you were in the lobby of my office building this morning." She called them both out.

"Indeed." Ratner smiled at her. "Here's the plan. If Piznarski _is_ with Ms. Mackenzie I don't want to risk him realizing you aren't here alone. You'll take the elevator while I take the stairs. Samson and Farmer will be at the only two exits, so no matter what he's not getting out of this building if he is here." Ratner reached into a duffle that Farmer was holding, "Mars, this is for you." He held up a steel grey stun-gun.

"Goody!" Veronica snatched it out of his hand. She'd had one in high school, back when she used to help out her dad occasionally. She depressed the trigger and watched with glee as the current arced across the prongs.

"I take it you're familiar with its operation?"

"You betcha, Mr. Sparky and I are old friends." She stuck the stun-gun in the back of her pants where it was well hidden by the loose fit of the shirt she had chosen that morning.

At Ratner's urging, Veronica headed for the elevator and made her way up to Mac's apartment. Her heart was racing. She knew she was right. No way would Mac ever call her Ronnie and then ask her to bring her a file about an abduction from years ago.

Veronica took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She had backup. Really good, 'scary muscles' and 'smarts' backup. The elevator dinged and she walked down Mac's hall. At the far end she could see Ratner standing in a doorway just barely in view. She took one more deep breath; it was all going to be okay.

Veronica knocked firmly on Mac's door and when she saw a shadow across the eyehole she put on her best smile and waved. After a few clicks and scrapes the door opened and she could see the edge of Mac's face.

"Hey Veronica. Did you bring what I asked for?" Mac's eyes shifted from side to side nervously.

"I did and so much more Macster!" Veronica pushed the door so she could enter as Ratner quietly moved into position. "Here's your tablet." Veronica said, tablet held out with one hand and the other reaching for Mac's hand.

Without hesitation Veronica grabbed Mac's hand, kicked the door open hard, and pulled Mac out into the hall. Only a step behind Mac was Piz. He looked different, but Veronica was sure it was him.

Piz stumbled out into the hall and Veronica jammed the stun gun into his ribs as soon as he was no longer touching Mac. Piz collapsed to the floor and Ratner rushed up to put a knee between Piz's shoulder blades and quickly zip-tie his wrists.

"Call 911, Veronica." Ratner said, grimacing at the subdued Piz.

* * *

Logan leaned back in his chair, staring at the blinking cursor on his laptop. He'd written more than five thousand words about his new heroine, Vivian Lester, intrepid journalist with a penchant for trouble. Not only was it the most productive writing day he'd had in the last year but it was the most fun he'd had writing in even longer.

He glanced down at his still silent cell phone. Ratner had been keeping Logan apprised of what was going on throughout the day. He'd even received a text letting him know they suspected Piz was with one of Veronica's friends. And then…nothing, so Logan had placed his phone where he could easily see it and had focused on writing. It had been two hours since his last update from Ratner when he finally received a text that said '_Central Police Station now – we got him'_.

Logan sprang out of his chair, grabbed his wallet and keys, and headed to the garage. Luckily, it was a short drive; even with a little evening traffic he was there in less than ten minutes. He found a spot in the adjoining parking garage and practically smacked right into Veronica as he burst through the front doors of the station.

Veronica's eyes were shining and she had a huge smile on her face that faded at the sight of Logan. He felt the loss of her happy expression like the loss of a limb, as she took a step back and a more guarded countenance covered her face.

"Logan. I'm…" she took a shaky breath.

Logan decided that hesitation was not his friend in this moment. Rather than try to get through an awkward apology, or worse, he reached out slowly and stroked her cheek with his knuckles. When she didn't back away he stepped into her personal space and pulled her into a kiss. He tried to pour all of the emotions he was feeling into her. Relief, happiness, and maybe just a little bit of residual anger. He could feel her body melt into his as her arms wrapped around his neck. Logan was about to lift her up when someone cleared his throat loudly. _Oops…not in private_, Logan broke the kiss and chuckled against Veronica's neck.

"Before you two get charged with indecent exposure, why don't we take this back to your home, Mr. Echolls, where I can give you a debriefing." Ratner said authoritatively.

"Hmm…Ratner, I'm all for a debriefing, but I think I'll let Veronica do it rather than you. You're not my type." Logan winked at Ratner and led them out to where he had parked his Range Rover. Ever the professional, Ratner ignored him, but Logan saw Veronica smirking out of the corner of his eye.

Once back at the house, Logan urged Veronica to go change and take shower if she wanted. With her out of the room, Logan turned to Ratner. "How bad was it?"

"For Ms. Mars, not too bad. She's a feisty one. I gave her a stun-gun and she shocked Piznarski right in the ribs once we had Ms. Mackenzie away from him." Ratner had an appreciative smile on his face.

Ratner continued, "Ms. Mackenzie is being kept overnight for observation since it appears she was drugged. Though, from what Ms. Mackenzie told us before the police arrived, he didn't physically harm her. Additionally, Piznarski had the 'villain' talk with her and shared what his plan was..."

Logan waited a moment for Ratner to continue, "And?"

"And…" Veronica walked into the room and took a seat with them at the table, "he was planning to wine and dine me before proposing to me…again. Guy is nuts. Seriously, who thinks 'I'll kidnap the friend of the object of my obsession and that friend will help me plan the perfect proposal and we'll all live happily ever after'?" Veronica said mockingly.

"Apparently Piz." Logan deadpanned. "So what now?"

"Now, he is in the hands of the police. They will be arraigning him on multiple charges, most likely sometime tomorrow. Beyond that I'm afraid they were not very forthcoming," Ratner said standing up from the table. "With Piznarski safely locked away for the moment, I'm going to meet with the rest of my team and my superiors. If you need anything before Piznarski's arraignment do not hesitate to contact me."

"Ratner…" Veronica called to Ratner's retreating form. He turned back. "Thank you. For everything." Veronica said with something in her voice that Logan couldn't quite identify.

"Any time Mars. Stay safe." He nodded to them both, "You too, Echolls." And then he was gone.

Veronica turned in her chair to face Logan. "He was much cooler than I ever would have expected."

"He was wasn't he? I think I might even like the guy." Logan agreed. "So, Veronica I—"

"Logan stop. Let me go first." He nodded and indicated she should continue. "First, thank you for not pulling the security even when you thought I might be trying to write a story about you. I don't even want to think about what could have happened if Ratner hadn't been with me when I went to Mac's."

Logan reached out and took Veronica's hands, lifted them to his mouth and place several kisses along her knuckles. "I wouldn't have pulled them; I might have sent you a bill if you had been working for a tabloid, though." He smirked against her fingers, and then lowered their still joined hands back to the table. "You know, Ratner is the one who told me he didn't think you were working an angle. I think I'm going to have to give him a big bonus." Logan started thinking about what Ratner would like most, money or something less traceable…

Veronica tugged on his hands, "I'm not done. I want to tell you how sorry I am. When you told me about being hounded for interviews I didn't even think about how you would feel about what I do for a living. I really did think I had told you. We've spent so much time together the last few days, but we really don't know each other. I am very sorry and, assuming you want to continue seeing me, if signing a non-disclosure agreement would make you more comfortable I am more than willing to do what ever you need."

Logan couldn't help but smile. "I don't think that will be necessary." He reached over and pulled her into his lap. "Piz didn't hurt you, right?"

"No, he didn't lay a hand on me." Veronica snuggled into his chest.

"How do you feel about taking a long bath and then going to bed?" Logan whispered into her ear.

"I think that sounds perfect."

Logan stood with her in his arms and walked them to the master bathroom. He set Veronica on the edge of the large tub and ran the water. "I have some good smelling stuff in that basket there if you want." He pointed to a basket on a shelf within Veronica's reach.

She pulled the basket down and sniffed the various different bottles before selecting Logan's favorite one; it was spicy smelling rather than flowery. Masculine bubble bath, as he liked to think of it. He added it to the bath and reached for Veronica, standing her in front of him. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms and kissed her gently before stepping back to head out of the bathroom, wanting to give her privacy and space to relax.

"Where are you going?" She called after him.

"I thought you'd want some time alone. You know, to unwind or whatever." He shrugged.

"I don't want to be alone right now." Her voice had that husky edge to it that drove Logan crazy.

"Veronica, you don't have to…"

"I know, but maybe I want to." She replied pulling off her shirt and shimmying out of the sleep shorts she was wearing.

She stood there, her fair skin glowing in the soft lighting, a light blush on her cheeks that almost matched the pink of her pert nipples. Logan let his eyes travel down her beautiful body, appreciating the flare of hips from her small waist; she was petite but curvy in all the right places. She was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Logan started walking back to Veronica, shedding his clothes as he went. He loved the hungry look that she got when she watched him undress. It made him crazy and desperate to be inside of her. She stepped into him, his hard-on pushing against the silky skin of her stomach, and sending a shiver a pleasure through him at the contact. Tilting his head down, Logan took in the sight of Veronica pressed against him. Her tight nipples brushed against his chest as she got on tiptoes to meet him in a kiss that left Logan breathless and impossibly more aroused.

"Logan, help me affirm life." Veronica whispered against he lips.

Not needing any further encouragement, Logan lifted Veronica up and turned to press her against the small stretch of bare wall next to the tub. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he cupped her ass, pulling her hot, wet center against his cock. The sensation almost bowled him over, god she felt amazing, and he pressed his forehead to hers and took a few deep breaths while taking in the look of absolute focus in her startling blue eyes and the feel of her fingers combing through his hair.

Logan pressed a hard kiss to Veronica's lips as he gripped her hips and pushed inside of her. She gasped around his lips and he couldn't resist biting her swollen bottom lip as he pulled most of the way out of her before thrusting strongly back into her. He watched her closely, looking for any signs that she might not be comfortable, but all he saw was a lust that reflected his own. Logan continued stoking in and out of Veronica at a pace just this side of maddening until he could feel her inner muscles begin to tremble.

"So close Logan, god so close."

Logan kissed her hard again, increased the strength of his thrusts, and worked his lips down her neck. He bit gently then placed light kisses across her hot skin as he felt her orgasm hit her, her muscles spasming so tightly that Logan almost lost his balance as he came with her. Finally giving into his fatigued muscles, Logan carefully slid them down the wall and settled Veronica in his lap where he pressed his forehead to her neck, her head resting on his as both panted in a staccato beat.

Once he'd caught his breath enough to speak, Logan pressed one more kiss to Veronica's neck and shifted her so he could see her face. "That was incredible." He kissed her forehead, nose, and finally her lips.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"Still want that bath?" Logan asked softly.

"Mmhmm." Veronica replied sleepily.

"Can you stand? I'm not sure that I can stand up with you after that."

"Uh-hun."

"Can you speak?"

"Mmm…soon. Maybe." She mumbled but started to push herself out of Logan's lap. He used his arms to steady her and once she was standing he pushed up next to her.

"You first, I'll crawl in behind you if you still want company." He held his hand out for her to hold as she climbed into the deep tub.

Once in, she slid forward to make room for Logan, so he stepped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close and loving every soft little sigh that escaped her lips as she relaxed into his arms.

After only a few minutes Logan realized Veronica's breathing had taken on the regularity of sleep. He gently kissed her temple and shifted her body so that he could lift her out of the tub, now that he was back in control of all his limbs. As he stepped out of the tub, she woke just enough to wrap up in the plush robe Logan held out for her. Logan walked her to the bed then quickly dried off and joined her.

He wrapped himself around Veronica and fell asleep thinking, _I am the luckiest man alive._

* * *

A/N: I want to thank all the lovely reviewers/commenters. I have so much fun reading your comments and interacting with you. Special thanks to BryroseA for editing, which is much too tame word for what she actually does! :)

We are heading into the home stretch for this installment…that's right installment/part – whatever you want to call it. I've been having so much fun writing floristAU Logan and Veronica that I've started outlining a follow up.


	5. Chapter 5

Veronica woke feeling relaxed and happy. She snuggled deeper into the down comforter and reached for the warm body she was expecting to be close by. But he wasn't there. She felt the bed and found that where Logan had been was still warm, but there was no other sign of him. Veronica sat up slowly, not really wanting to get out of bed but also not wanting to stay if she wasn't wrapped in his arms.

She searched around for the robe she had a vague memory of being wrapped in after their bath last night and found it in a crumpled pile on the floor at the foot of the bed. _Mmm…that memory is less fuzzy. _Veronica thought, remembering when she had woken Logan up in the middle of the night for more "life affirmation." She bent down to grab the robe, slipped into it, and tied it shut in case they had company. _They? Really Veronica? Already thinking of this as your place, huh?_ She shook off the silly thought and chalked it up to a lack of caffeine.

As she came into the open-concept kitchen and living room, Veronica spotted Logan on the phone, leaning against the kitchen island with a mug of coffee wearing only a pair of boxer briefs.

"So Piz is still in custody?" Logan asked into the phone. "Okay. Any idea if he's going to get bail?" Logan's face looked grim and then he smiled when he saw Veronica. "Sounds good. Keep me posted."

Veronica returned his smile and moved further into the room, but hearing talk of Piz and the possibility of bail had her nerves on high alert. Sure, Piz had been arrested after being subdued by Mr. Sparky and Ratner but Inspector Saitou had been hesitant to tell them much last night. '_Go home and get some rest. We'll talk more tomorrow_,' was all he would say.

"So, what's the word?" Veronica asked Logan as he set the phone back on the charger.

"Well Piz is in lockup. His arraignment and bail hearing are set for this afternoon, but my buddy in the DA's office doesn't think it's likely that Piz will get bail or, if he does, it will be for an amount that the guy shouldn't be able to afford." Logan walked over to Veronica and wrapped her arms around her. "I guess that means you can go back to your place." His words were soft against her ear.

"Yeah, I guess so." She agreed with him and leaned into his chest. "Although I am seriously thinking about looking for a different place after everything that's happened."

"Well, you're welcome here any time." Veronica felt his soft lips against her temple. "In fact…let me show you just how welcome you are." Logan turned Veronica to face him and pulled the tie of the robe loose, revealing her lack of any other clothing. "Mmm…yes, always welcome," his hands brushed down her bare skin, stopping at her thighs, and lifted her up to sit on the island. Veronica wrapped her legs around his waist and let herself enjoy the feel of his warm hands caressing her sides and his lips on her neck. Logan's hand brushed down her stomach and was almost to the apex of her thighs when she felt him tense and pull away.

"Veronica, last night…" He cleared he throat, "Not just last night actually, we didn't use any protection. Do we need to do anything?" Logan asked his voice sounding strained.

Veronica couldn't help but laugh; they had definitely gotten carried away more than once—which was very out of character for her—but there wasn't much about what she had going with Logan that wasn't. She decided to let him off the hook. "I'm on birth control. And I recently had a full health panel," she told him while massaging her thumbs into his tense neck. At her words, she felt him relax into her touch.

"I get tested regularly, I'm clean, too."

"I know you are." Veronica smiled at him.

"And just how do you know that? Did you use your super reporter skills to trick my doctor or something?" He asked with a smile.

"Eh…I snooped. Professional hazard. Your latest results were in your nightstand. Which seems rather convenient Mr. Echolls, what do you have to say about that?" Veronica teased.

"No comment," Logan breathed into her ear as he pushed the robe off her shoulders.

Veronica took in Logan's darkened gaze as his eyes roamed over her fully exposed body. She placed her hands behind her and leaned back, opening herself up more to him. His sharp intake of breath emboldened her and she spread her legs even further.

"You are going to be the death of me," Logan said in a strained voice as he stood just staring at her.

"Well, come here and I promise to give you la petit mort…if you're good, that is." She teased.

"I'm always good, baby." He shoved his boxes down releasing his already hard cock.

Veronica grasped him and began stroking. "I think I need some reminding."

A sexy growl came from Logan as she squeezed his sensitive head. He stilled her hand and placed it behind her back. Sliding his arms under both of her legs, he rested them in the crooks of his arms and pulled her to the edge of the counter. His hips shifted, causing just his head to tease against her.

"Please, Logan." Veronica sighed at the feeling of him rubbing against her, longing for the moment when he would finally fill her.

"Please what, Veronica? Tell me what you want."

"You. I want you." She panted as he brushed his cock across her clit.

"You have me. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to—" her breath hitched as he pressed against her clit again. "Want you…Need you inside of me. Now Logan!"

With her legs still being supported by his arms he stepped in closer, grabbed her hips, and buried himself fully inside of her. She didn't think he could be any further inside her when on the next thrust she felt something she'd never felt before, almost like he'd bounced lightly inside her. Veronica moaned loudly as he did it again. "What is that?" She asked between pants.

"I'm hitting your cervix; is it okay? If you don't like it I'll stop." He slowed and pushed in shallowly.

"I think I like it." At her response Logan surged in further, causing the same sensation again and eliciting an involuntary moan from Veronica.

"Mmm, I think you like it, I know I do." He continued driving in deeply and pulling out slowly for what could have been hours or only minutes. Veronica was so lost to the new sensations that she startled when he abruptly stopped and released her legs.

"Wha—" Veronica mumbled not quite able to form coherent words.

"I wasn't ready for us to be done. Don't worry, I've got you." He lifted her off the counter and walked her to the plush couch in the living room.

Veronica watched Logan arrange her blissed out body on the couch; she assumed he just wanted a different position, but he sank down to the floor and started nipping at her inner thighs.

"Wha—what are you doing?" She asked confused.

"I'm cooling down a little while I get to indulge in one of my favorite activities." Logan grinned up at her before slipping his tongue inside her and then up around her clit and back again.

"But…we were…and now you want to…?" She was baffled.

Logan applied gentle suction to her, causing Veronica to almost jump off the couch. "You've never had a partner stop sex to go down on you?" She shook her head. "Fools." He mumbled and went back to driving her crazy with his tongue and lips and the lightest of pressure of teeth until he pushed her over the edge. Before her head had cleared he was back inside of her and surrendering to his own orgasm.

* * *

"Your Honor, this is all a big misunderstanding."

"Please let your attorney speak for you, Mr. Piznarski." The judge scolded.

"Your Honor, my client has pled not guilty. And additionally, I would like to challenge several of the charges."

Piz was fuming. He wanted to tell his story. Make them all see it wasn't his fault.

"First, my client is being charged with stalking Ms. Veronica Mars. However, there is no evidence that he did more than purchase flowers for an old friend." Piz's attorney informed the court.

"ADA Ruiz?" The judge asked.

"Mr. Piznarski has a history of stalking Ms. Mars." The ADA replied.

"No, he has a history of her filing complaints against him. He has never been charged with stalking. I see this order of protection but it was not in conjunction with any charges against him." The judge shook his head. "Show me evidence."

The ADA sighed, and Piz smiled at the sound. They had nothing. He'd been very careful because _his_ Veronica could be a real hellcat when she was playing hard to get.

Piz's attorney picked up where he left off, "Additionally, Mr. Piznarski is being charged with the drug-facilitated assault and kidnapping of Ms. Cindy 'Mac' Mackenzie. But we have evidence that he did neither." The judge indicated he should continue. "The hospital report shows that Ms. Mackenzie did have the drug GHB in her system, but we requested a test of our own showing that Mr. Piznarski also had the drug in his system. And this is a receipt from the club they were dancing at." The attorney passed the papers to the bailiff. "Mr. Piznarski admits to possessing the drugs but both he and Ms. Mackenzie took them freely. The hospital report shows that Ms. Mackenzie was not sexually assaulted. And the only evidence they have of her being detained were two cloth napkins by an armchair and Ms. Mackenzie's word. This whole thing was a misunderstanding. My client was out having a good time with a lovely woman whose friend overreacted, as she has done in the past concerning my client."

Piz couldn't take it anymore, "She got a restraining order against me when I tried to propose to her." Several tears slipped down his cheeks.

"Mr. Piznarski, enough. ADA Ruiz, please tell me you have further evidence supporting these charges."

"Ms. Mackenzie and Ms. Mars have both given statements that support the charges." The ADA declared.

"I've read the statements—Ms. Mars did not witness Mr. Piznarski detaining Ms. Mackenzie. I hate these kinds of cases." The judge sighed. "Okay, from what I see here, there isn't enough evidence to support the charges filed, aside from the drug possession. Ruiz, you can refile the other charges should more evidence become available. As for bail: $5000. I will not be adding the enhancement due to lack of evidence that the drugs were intended for use in a drug-facilitated sexual assault."

They all got up and the judge started hearing the next case.

Piz followed his attorney to a small conference room. "Mr. Piznarski, your parents have already agreed to post bail, and for such a low amount I will take care of it now and bill them."

"Thanks." They separated and Piz waited to be released. He had plans to make.

* * *

After a relaxing morning with Logan, Veronica found herself back in what should have felt like a familiar apartment, but she hadn't been being disingenuous earlier when she'd told Logan she wasn't sure about keeping the place. It was now tainted by the presence of Piz. He had been in her home, touched her things and, even though he was in jail, this place no longer felt safe.

For so long the only place she'd felt safe and content was in her father's home. Even when she'd tried to live with Leo, his house had never been home. She shuddered at the memory of her four months living in that house. Strangely, she felt completely at ease and comfortable in Logan's home.

She carried her bags back to the large closet that served as both a utility closet and her laundry room and began the task of sorting what would need to be washed and what could just be hung back up. After a few minutes she had a few small piles but decided that doing laundry could wait. What she really wanted after yesterday's ordeal was a nap, preferably with Logan. _Maybe if I call him he'll come over…_ She'd barely had the thought before she was texting him. His reply was almost instantaneous: 'running a few errands and then I'll be there'. Veronica smiled and twirled herself towards the bathroom, reveling in the feel of butterflies fluttering through her chest. A feeling that had been foreign for so long—happiness—coursed through her.

Veronica quickly changed into a pretty light blue lace camisole with marching boy shorts that had been in the clean pile after she unpacked. _Might as well look pretty_, she thought as she headed to the bedroom to put away the rest of her clean clothes while she waited for Logan.

Lying in the middle of the bed was a large bouquet of white roses and a small satin pillow with a gold ring sitting on it. Veronica dropped the handful of clothes in her arms as she ran to get out of the room and to her cell phone as quickly as possible. As she turned, she was caught by the rough touch of unfamiliar hands.

"I've missed you Veronica."

* * *

Logan was thrilled when he got Veronica's text. He knew it was silly—they hadn't even known each other a week—but he had been disappointed to see her leave. It wasn't like he could ask her to move in with him. But still…

Logan pulled into his reserved parking space by the rear entrance to L &amp; L. His part-time employee, Heather, had volunteered to handle the shop one more day after hearing everything that had happened. She was a sweet kid and she promised that she would only be missing one afternoon class. But as much as Logan appreciated it, he didn't want her missing classes for him. He planned to see how business had been for the morning and then close up for the rest of the day since there weren't any scheduled deliveries. He had one other special little project to do while at the shop and then he could head over to Veronica's.

Logan hopped out of the Range Rover and made his way quickly into the shop. Heather was at the counter chatting with just who he was hoping would be there—Ratner.

"Hey man." Logan called approaching the front.

"Echolls. Your employee was filling me in on the finer points of your business while we waited." Ratner sounded serious but Logan saw the hint of a smile on his face. _Was that a joke?_

Heather giggled, "If by finer points you mean the importance of fresh water and humidity, then yes that is exactly what we were talking about."

"Heather, why don't you go pack up your stuff. I'm going to close up early today. You can still make it to your class, right?"

Heather nodded, "Okay _Dad_, I'll go to class." She gave him a quick hug and disappeared into the back of the store.

"Nice girl." Ratner commented with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Yeah, my buddy married her sister back in college." At Ratner's look Logan shrugged, "it's a long story but she's practically family. When you called you said you wanted me to put together an arrangement for you?"

"Yes. For Ms. Mackenzie, Veronica's friend who Piznarski held hostage yesterday. She's still being kept at the hospital and I thought she'd…" Ratner's voice lacked its usual confident tone; Logan actually thought he might be nervous.

"I've never met her, but what can you tell me about her? We'll put together something she'll like." Logan smiled and clapped Ratner on the shoulder.

"Well she has purple streaks in her hair—"

"No, not what she looks like." Logan snorted. "What _is_ she like?"

"She's the head of IT where Mars works and the background check showed degrees in computer science and information technologies."

"Better," Logan considered Ratner for a few moments. "What's your endgame here? Are you just being nice? Are you hoping to question her more about what happened? Or…are you maybe hoping you might get her phone number?" Ratner's face turned bright red. "Phone number it is." Logan winked. "Now here's the hard part: Why? What about her prompted your interest?"

Ratner shifted back and forth; gone was his look of complete control and confidence. "I guess she…I don't know. When Veronica pulled her out and took down Piznarski, Ms. Mackenzie—Mac —didn't loose her cool. She didn't break down and was excited that Veronica had picked up on her clues. Not many people can keep it together like that and she did, all while complaining that the guy was nuts and hadn't fed her enough."

Logan took in the look of awe in Ratner's eyes. "Flowers for a 'cool under pressure' chick coming right up. You said purple streaks right?" Ratner nodded and Logan turned to head to the back workroom. "Come on Ratner, you can keep me company while I do this."

Logan pulled out a few canisters of flowers and a couple of different vases. "Dude, the good news for you is that you basically saved her life. I'm confident she'll agree to have coffee with you."

"What kind of florist says 'dude'?" Ratner glared at Logan.

"The kind who surfs." Logan paused and considered the situation. "Her last date ended pretty badly, so maybe just ask her to get coffee with you to talk about what happened? You don't want to come off as the creep who asked her out while she was in the hospital recovering from her last date."

"But you asked Mars out when she was being stalked?"

"No, I threw my hat in the ring when she came in asking about a secret admirer; totally different." Logan shook his head at the sunflower that just wouldn't stay put and grabbed for some thin wire. "If coffee goes well, maybe you offer to teach her some self-defense moves or something…you know, play to your strengths."

"What are your strengths?"

Logan finally got the errant flower to cooperate and looked up at Ratner. "My hot body and wealth." He laughed.

"Somehow I don't think Mars would be particularly taken with your wealth."

"Naw, she's all about my body." Logan waggled his eyebrows.

"Is that how you got Mars to go out with you? Because she thinks you're 'hot'?" Ratner looked confused.

"Veronica? No, her, I bribed." At Ratner's incredulous expression Logan continued the story. "She wanted a copy of the security footage from in the shop. I told her I'd give her a copy if she had dinner with me." Logan smiled wistfully at the memory of their first night together.

"And it went so well she agreed to see you again?"

Logan cleared his throat, "Something like that."

Ratner quietly watched while Logan put the finishing touches on the arrangement of sunflowers and purple wild flowers. "What do I say to her?"

"I dunno man. You'll just have to wait for the _moment_."

"What if there isn't one?"

"Shit Ratner, have you never dated?" At Ratner's expression Logan got the feeling it wasn't too far off. "Sorry, um…sit and talk to her for a while. If she's smiling and engaging in conversation with you then just go for it—ask her to coffee or lunch. If you're not sure then you can go the other route, which is to let her know that if she ever wants to talk, she's welcome to call you. Then you give her your number and hope she calls. Dating 101." Logan tried to offer Ratner an encouraging smile as he handed him the arrangement.

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"Dating stuff?" Ratner nodded. "Um…experience, maybe genetics I guess. Son of movie stars." Logan answered without humor. "Look, just be yourself. If she isn't into who you are, don't waste your time. Now come on, I have a _date_ with Veronica that I am more than eager to get to."

* * *

Ratner walked up to the nurses' station, "Cindy Mackenzie, please." He requested.

"One moment. Room 315. Sign here." The nurse indicated a visitors sign in log. "And your ID."

Ratner complied and, once he got the okay from the nurse, he continued down to hall to room 315. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in." A voice called from behind the door.

Ratner pushed the door open and walked into the room, "Ms. Mackenzie, how are you feeling? I brought you…" he held up the small but tasteful arrangement Echolls had made for him.

"Mr. Ratner, you didn't have to do that." Mac replied with a bright smile.

"Please, call me Jeff." Ratner could feel his cheeks heating up and hoped she couldn't tell.

"In that case, you have to call me Mac." She accepted the flowers and set them on the rolling tray table at her side. "These are really beautiful; I love sunflowers. Did Veronica's mystery florist make it?"

Ratner nodded shyly, "I told Mr. Echolls I was planning to check in on you and wanted to bring flowers. No one should ever have to stay at the hospital without getting flowers."

"Did you say Echolls? As in Logan Echolls?"

"Um…yes, Logan Echolls." Ratner felt disappointment darken the edges of his thoughts; she was more interested in hearing about some quasi-celebrity than in getting to know him.

Ratner was startled by Mac's sudden burst of laughter and the shocked expression on her face. "Veronica's hot florist was my high school's psychotic jackass! I thought he looked familiar. She really does attract all the crazies. First her crazy stalker holds me hostage or whatever and now she is…doing whatever it is she's doing with the guy who hosted bum fights my junior year. He and his best friend had two of the lowest scores on my purity test." Mac cracked herself up; thinking of the mayhem that ensued on the day after people's scores became available for purchase.

"Purity test?" Ratner asked confused.

"You know what Jeff? I think you and I should get coffee sometime so that I can fill you in on all sorts of entertaining stories about your employer…but you know, while I am wearing something with a back." Mac's lips quirked up in a half smile and she waved her hand at the hospital gown.

* * *

Logan whistled as he entered Veronica's apartment building. The place wasn't bad on the whole but if Veronica wanted to move he was going to support that decision. Preferably into a place closer to his own…or maybe just into his place. _There is no way I can convince her to move in with me after knowing me less than a week. Am I crazy for wanting her to?_ He hopped into the elevator eagerly. It had only been a few hours but he couldn't wait to see her. He knew it was ridiculous, but he missed her like you might miss a missing limb or some other essential part of yourself. _God I'm not crazy, I'm fucking falling in love with her!_ The realization hit him hard. He'd only ever loved one other person…

The elevator opened up on Veronica's floor, interrupting his thoughts. Logan quickly walked to her door and knocked firmly, causing the door to swing open. _What the hell?_ Logan felt his heart start to race.

He pushed the door the rest of the way open, "Veronica? Veronica!" He called, moving into the apartment and looking around for signs of her presence. The bedroom door was shut so he rushed to it, forcing it open.

Veronica was lying on the bed, arms and legs bound with duct tape, a gag in her mouth and eyes wide with fear. "Shit! Veronica? Oh my god!" He sprinted to her side and pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"He's still here." She whispered.

Logan reached into his pocket for the Swiss Army knife he always carried and started to cut the bindings at Veronica's wrists. He had barely gotten halfway through the tape when Veronica screamed. Logan turned and Piz just missed hitting him in the head with the large ceramic teapot from Veronica's kitchen. The pot smashed down on Logan's shoulder, knocking him off balance bringing him down hard to one knee.

Logan could feel blood trickling down his neck and back from where the pot breaking had cut him. But years of abuse had given Logan a very high tolerance for pain and taught him a lot of things about predators. Logan subtly shifted his position and waited for Piz to approach.

Out of the corner of his eye, Logan could see that Veronica had rolled away to the far side of the bed and was continuing to work at cutting the tape.

Piz was swinging the remnants of the teapot wildly. Finally, Piz stepped close enough and thrust out with the sharp remains with a smile on his face. At the last second, Logan ducked, spun, and popped back up to his feet while shoving Piz hard in the back, causing him to ram into the wall.

Logan bounced lightly on his feet. "Fuck you douchebag! Did you think you could take me with a fucking teapot? I'm going to fucking destroy you." Logan spat out and lunged for Piz as he turned around.

Logan wrapped his good arm around Piz's middle and shoved him hard into the wall again. Piz grunted and released the handle of the teapot, sending it crashing to the floor, where what was left of it shattered. Logan followed up his body slam with two rapid high knee kicks first to his soft belly and then his groin. And finally a solid head-butt caused Piz to slide down the wall to the floor.

Piz groaned loudly and collapsed onto his side. "Stay the fuck down." Logan growled.

Logan turned to check on Veronica, who had just finished removing the last of the tape. Logan watched as Veronica stumbled to her dresser and grabbed the stun gun Ratner had given her. Logan couldn't help but smile; he moved out of her way and beckoned her forward with an arm flourish.

Veronica kneeled down and jammed the stun gun into Piz's ribs, "Stop trying to fucking propose to me you idiot!" She yelled in his face as she gave him a quick burst from the stun-gun. "I am never going to marry you!" She shouted as she stepped away from Piz's incapacitated body.

Logan pulled his cell phone from his pocket and shot off a quick text for Ratner to come to Veronica's apartment immediately before dialing 911.

* * *

Veronica had held a dishrag to Logan's bleeding shoulder until the police and paramedics arrived. That was many questions and several hours ago. Veronica took several deep breaths, wishing they would let her at least see Logan. But each of her requests had been denied. First, because he had been taken straight to the hospital and then, later, because he was being questioned while they had a doctor check her out.

The whole process had been uncomfortable. The responding officer had pissed Logan off because he wouldn't stop leering at Veronica, which had prompted the police to separate them under the guise of the EMTs needing to calm Logan down. There was some blood on Veronica's camisole so they wanted it for evidence prompting a whole other set of problems, which were finally resolved by the officers allowing her to change after they had taken a series of photographs of her.

Logan and Piz were both taken straight to the hospital in ambulances but since Veronica didn't have any obvious physical injuries they took her in a squad car. Ratner, who had shown up sometime during all the chaos, had tried to convince them to let him drive her, but apparently that went against policy. Then she'd had to wait well over an hour to see an actual doctor who just ordered some diagnostics to make sure the stun-gun hadn't caused any damage to her heart and a toxicology panel at the request of the police. She still hadn't heard back about either.

Then, much to her _delight_, the obnoxious officer who had first responded to the 911 call showed up to ask her more questions. Except most of them bordered on inappropriate. He never said anything obviously offensive, but he made several comments about Veronica having "spirit." The final straw for Veronica had been a very strange comment about how she had a nice couch, but that her carpet and walls were pretty impressive as well. She'd refused to answer any more of his questions and asked to speak to his supervisor. He'd insisted that wasn't necessary and left. A short time later another officer had come in with more follow-up questions that had been much more appropriate.

After that, they'd left her alone in the private hospital room for the last hour, giving her more time than she wanted to sit and think. Veronica hoped they'd release her soon or at least let her make a phone call. Sitting alone in this room was giving her too much time to think about what had happened. And Piz's disturbed ramblings were starting to get to her. He must have found a journal from near the end of her relationship with Leo because it had felt like he was reciting her insecurities out loud as well as almost parroting things Leo had said.

"_**I know all of your secrets Veronica. He won't want you when he knows."**_

Sure, when Leo had said almost the same thing to her when they broke up he'd been much more general since there'd been no other 'he' at the time. Intellectually, Veronica knew that Piz was crazy and that he was wrong, but hearing it again had still been upsetting. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Logan knew…maybe not the details, but he knew about the bad things she'd been through and he'd been nothing but considerate, all while never treating her like she was broken.

"_**I know you're not whole. You're damaged, but I can make you better."**_

What a joke. When Piz had said that, it had taken all of Veronica's will power not to laugh. As if Piz could make her better. Leo had 'tried;' he would frequently attend seminars about assault victims and the long-term effects of physical trauma. After each one he would list off all these things that she was supposedly experiencing and tell her what he would do to help. But not once had he _asked_ her what would make her feel better or what she needed from him. _Even after almost two years of being together, Leo was never able to really understand me. Yet in less than a week, Logan's broken down walls I didn't even know were there._ She'd never felt so comfortable and like herself with another person in her entire life. Logan made her feel normal and whole in a way she hadn't experienced since childhood. _How did he get to me so quickly? _

"_**You'll never be enough for someone like HIM, you need me."**_

"Ms. Mars." The slightly rough voice of Inspector Saitou came from the door into her room, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hey Inspector, here to ask me more questions?" She asked with annoyance. "Wait, do you want to hear about how he tased me with my own damn stun-gun, tied me up and made me listen to him explain his undying love for me? Or do you want the part where he tried to kill Logan with my teapot?"

"I think it is safe to say that I don't want to hear anything about his crazy ramblings again." He offered her a small smile. "I'm actually here to see how you're holding up and to give you an update."

"Well…I guess I'm fine. Tired and wishing I had access to a phone." She glared at the Inspector

"You're in luck; I happen to have with me your wallet, phone, and keys." Saitou pulled out an evidence bag and broke the seal. "I'm afraid we have to keep your stun-gun." He smirked.

"Oh Mr. Sparky, he served me well." Veronica said, accepting the bag from Saitou. She quickly flipped open her phone and saw several text messages and voicemails. "You said you have an update…" She prompted.

"Yes. I do. First, I know you've been asking for Mr. Echolls and as soon as we're done here I'll have him put on your approved visitors list and let him know. He's just one floor down."

"_**You'll never be enough for someone like HIM, you need me."**_

The thought came returned unbidden. She pushed it back, trying to refocus on the Inspector's words.

"We found something you aren't going to like at your apartment." He cleared his throat and looked away.

"Oh come on Saitou, something worse than that ring? Impossible." Veronica laughed but she knew it sounded hollow.

"We found cameras hidden in your apartment. Your bedroom and the living room, specifically." Saitou gave her a very serious look. "Piznarski also had his laptop with him. We found videos of you going back at least ten days."

"Wow, well that's incredibly creepy. But I guess it's good, right? If there was a camera in the bedroom then you saw him sneak up on me and then tie me up on the bed. And the fight with Logan, the tape should show that it was self-defense. Not to mention the cameras are evidence of criminal trespass."

"Oh yes, the files show those things. They also contain some intimate moments between you and Mr. Echolls, as well as a few of you alone…" His face turned a deep shade of red.

"_**I've seen you with him. That's not you. You should be made love to."**_

One of Piz's comments finally made sense. Veronica slumped down in the bed, "Lovely…please tell me that you have good security on your evidence lockup. I'm betting tabloids would pay a pretty penny for a Logan Echolls sex-tape. And I know that he would be incredibly upset if that got out." Veronica tried to remain calm, but the idea of people seeing her and Logan; that Piz had seen her with Logan… "How many people have seen it?"

"Right now five of us, but my partner, Santiago, and I are the only ones who have seen all of the footage."

Veronica grimaced. "Was one of those five the younger officer who was the first to arrive?"

Saitou nodded with a grim expression. "Officer Diller, Chip Diller. He didn't see the recordings from the bedroom, only the ones from the living room."

"Well, that explains a few of his comments. You can let whoever that punk's superior is know that I'll be filing a complaint. Hey, you wanna make sure the recording of him interviewing me doesn't disappear?" Veronica asked the older officer.

"Not to worry, I've already alerted them to his less than appropriate behavior. He wasn't even supposed to interview you at the hospital. Unfortunately, the bigger of a deal we make out of it the more people who will probably end up seeing the recordings." He sighed. "It's up to you and I will back you either way."

"I'll think about it."

* * *

Logan could feel the scowl of the nurse on the back of his neck as he insisted on entering Veronica's room. The nurse hadn't wanted him to go in, let alone crawl into the bed with her. But Logan didn't give two shits what some nurse wanted. He needed to know that Veronica was okay—more than that, he needed to feel her steady breath and the rhythmic beat of her heart against his chest.

"Hey you." Veronica's tired voice whispered as Logan wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey yourself. How're you feeling?" He asked.

"Probably better than you. Did you need stitches?"

"No, just butterfly bandages." He said softly into her ear. "Did they say when you could leave?"

"Soon I think. I have a small burn where he tased me, but they checked my heart and said it doesn't look like I'm having any negative effects from it. Inspector Saitou stopped by; it sounds like they'll want us back at Central tomorrow, but as soon as the good doctor comes back with my blood panel results I should be able to leave the hospital."

Logan squeezed her gently, "Good." He reached for her hand and entwined their fingers. "Stay at my place tonight? Yours is still a crime scene and I don't think I'll be able to sleep if you aren't with me." He brushed her hair out of the way so he could kiss her neck softly.

"Since I don't think I'll be able to sleep without you either, I think you've got yourself a deal. Now get out of my bed before Nurse Grumpy has a fit."

Logan carefully removed himself from the bed and moved around to the chair so that he could see Veronica's face. "She was just jealous; I'm quite a catch you know." He winked.

"I do know." She smirked and then her eyes shifted up from Logan, causing him to look behind him. His eyes met those of a girl—well, she wasn't a girl anymore—who he used to know.

"You're Mackenzie?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Hi, Logan Echolls: 21% pure. Long time no see."

"That score is sorely out of date." He smirked at her remembering the chaos after all of Neptune High had taken a purity test his junior year. Logan has always wondered if she'd been behind the whole thing.

Veronica looked back and forth between them. "You know each other?"

"_Know_ is maybe a stretch, but we are acquainted with one another." Logan replied.

"We went to the same high school." Mac confirmed.

"So Ghostworld, how've you been?"

"Don't call me that." Mac's teasing expression vanished.

"Shit! I'm sorry. I…well, _forgot_ isn't right but…you know. I'm sorry."

"I'll let you make it up to me by telling me more about Jeff Ratner." Mac's smile returned.

Veronica sat up and stared back and forth between them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What just happened?"

Logan opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the ringing of Veronica's phone.

"It's my dad…you two can get your stories straight out in the hall." Veronica winked and hit accept on her phone as Logan escorted Mac out of the hospital room.

"So Logan Echolls, we meet again. Haven't heard much about you lately. Been staying away from street fighting and bridges?"

Logan cringed. He deserved that. His 'Ghostworld' comment, while unintentional, hadn't exactly been nice, considering his history with Mac. "Well Cindy, you know idle hands…these days they are much more occupied." He tilted his head back toward the room.

"Ugh…as obnoxious as ever I see. How's Dick? Enjoying his family's fortune?" Mac scoffeded.

Logan immediately felt terrible; this was not how he wanted his first time meeting Veronica's closest friend here to go. "Mac, can we start over?" He sighed, "I swear I'm not the obnoxious prick I was in high school. In fact I've worked really hard to not be that guy, it's just that seeing you…I slipped back into his skin for a minute. I promise he's locked back up where he belongs."

Mac looked at him skeptically. "I'll give you another shot, but only because Veronica seems pretty taken with you and she's no push over."

Logan wiped his brow, "Truer words were never spoken. You should have seen her earlier. She tased Piz while he was whimpering on the floor. It was beautiful."

Mac smiled at him, seeming to thaw a bit more_. _"I really liked the flowers from Jeff. I've always loved sunflowers."

"I'm glad. He's a pretty cool guy. He's around here somewhere I think."

"Yeah, he came by my room just a little bit ago and let me know that Veronica could have visitors. He neglected to mention that you would be here…"

"Don't hold it against him. He's probably taking pleasure in making me squirm."

* * *

"Hey Dad." Veronica answered her phone as Logan and Mac left her room.

"Hey kiddo. I just got a call from Leo—seems Piz's first arrest didn't stick. Are you being careful?" Keith asked, sounding troubled.

"About that. Yeah, it didn't stick and he maybe broke back into my apartment and—"

"Veronica! Tell me you weren't there. Where are you now?"

"It's fine. I'm fine. I've already spoken with the police. Piz is back in jail and the evidence against him is much better this time."

"Not just your word against his, how?" Keith sounded distressed, his breath sounding shallow and labored.

"Dad, I need you to take a few deep breaths for me, okay?" On the other end of the line, she heard her father take three slow deep breaths. He'd had a scare barely a year ago and while his cardiovascular health had improved he still needed to be careful about stresses. "All right. Listen, I'm fine. No damage done. He was in my apartment and his dastardly plan was to propose to me again. Logan arrived and beat the sh—crap out of him. I tased him and, thanks to the creepy cameras he had set up in my place, we have video evidence of what he did."

"And _what _did he do?" Keith asked with concern.

"He tied me up and ranted at me mostly. I'm actually disappointed that he was able to get the drop on me. He used the stun-gun the security guy gave me. Pretty embarrassing actually." Veronica tried to joke.

"Veronica, I don't find anything about this funny. I think I'm going to get the next flight—"

"No, you're not. And neither is Leo. I'm fine. I don't want or need you here." She said defiantly.

"Honey, please don't be like this."

"Dad, I tried to talk to you about my life before I accepted this job and moved—about how I wasn't happy—and you basically told me I didn't know what I was talking about. Well, here it is right back at you. You don't know what you're talking about. Give Alicia a hug from me. I love you and I'll talk to you in a few days." Veronica hung up the phone and threw it to the end of the hospital bed.

"Hey Bobcat." Logan's soothing voice came from the door. Veronica turned and watched him walk somewhat stiffly toward her. "Everything okay?"

Veronica huffed. "Yes." She looked up at Logan; his eyes were soft and open, taking her in; no judgment only compassion and a hint of longing. She exhaled loudly, "No. I'm not okay. And we have a problem but I don't want to talk about it here." She held her hand out to him.

Logan walked to her and when Veronica pulled him onto the bed he didn't resist. She guided his arm around her gently, careful of his injuries. Once he was settled against her, she felt his lips press softly to her neck and behind her ear.

"It'll be okay Veronica. We'll go home soon and I promise whatever you need—"

"Ms. Mars." An older male cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Uh…"

Veronica squeezed Logan's hand and he slowly climbed out of the bed for the second time.

"No, it's fine." Veronica replied. "Doctor…?"

"Michaels. Well Ms. Mars, I think that unless you have any questions or concerns we can start processing your discharge."

"How long until I can go home?" Veronica asked.

The doctor made a few gestures on his tablet. "You should be all set. Your tox panel came back clean and your heart function is completely normal. A nurse will come in shortly and bring your final paperwork and you can go." He shook her hand and left.

Veronica turned back to Logan, "Have they discharged you as well?"

"Yup. We can leave as soon as you're ready."

"Where'd Mac go? I'm dying to hear more about how you know each other. Obviously from going to high school with each other but I got the distinct impression there was some animosity between you two."

"You guessed right. She got a call, but she said she'd call you later to check in. Let's get back to my place. We can open a bottle of wine, sit out on the deck and talk."

"You read my mind."

* * *

Piz found himself back in the SFPD lockup. _How did it all go so wrong? _He was sure he'd done everything right. Didn't all women love surprises? He had bought her that beautiful ring. Sure, maybe tying her up had been a bit too bold of a choice, but she needed to stay and listen to him. He banged his head against the cinderblock wall.

An officer in uniform came into view, "Knock it off, Piznarski. Or wait, are you trying to get the images of someone else fucking your girl out of your head? Cause I gotta say, from what Diller said, it's an image I'd be keeping in mind for a long time. Frisky isn't she?"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Piz yelled defensively at the officer.

"I bet, you've never been with her, huh? I guess I'm not surprised…you get a load of that guy she's with? You aren't much compared to someone like him."

Piz started rocking himself in the cot. He would have Veronica. He would have her if it was the last thing he ever did. She would love him. She would.

* * *

Logan pulled the cork from a nice bottle of pinot noir—full fruit without being as heavy as a cabernet—he hoped it would compliment the chocolate mousse he had picked up before the day had gone to shit.

Earlier, while they had shared some comfort-food take out Veronica had filled him in on the cameras and the recording of them having sex in her living room. He was less than thrilled and was planning a call to his lawyer in the morning to see if there was anything they could do get that removed from evidence, as well as any other recordings that weren't directly pertinent to the case against Piz. It seemed unlikely that any of this would go to trial anyway. Surely Piz would take some kind of plea deal with this much evidence.

Once that story was finished, Logan had given her a very abbreviated version of how he knew Mac, since Mac had asked to be the one to explain more of their history.

He walked into the living room with both glasses of wine and found Veronica eyeing the dessert. "Such self control. I half expected it to be gone." He teased her.

"You have no idea how tempted I was." She licked her lips.

"Oh, but I do Bobcat." He leaned in and pulled her full lower lip into his mouth. She responded to him enthusiastically, the dessert and wine momentarily forgotten. Logan finally pulled away and scooped up a bite of the mousse to feed to Veronica.

He held the spoon up to her lips and watched as she licked the rich dessert off the spoon. "Delicious." She hummed taking the spoon from him and had a spoon full ready to feed him.

Logan graciously accepted the bite, "It is good, but I've tasted better." He leered at her and reached for the band of the plaid sleep pants she was wearing. "In fact I think I may need to have another taste to make sure I'm not imagining it."

"Oh no Echolls! Not this time. It's my turn." Veronica reached for her glass of wine and took a sip, her eyes not quite meeting Logan's. She pressed her palm against his chest until he was lying completely back against the couch. He pulled a pillow under his head so he could watch as she kissed her way down his torso. When she reached his shorts she finally looked up at him and he could see the hesitation in her eyes.

"Veronica, you don't have to." He reached out and pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"I…I want to. I want to make you feel—"

"Babe, I feel so much with you."

"You don't want me to—"

"You have no idea how much I want that, but only if you're completely comfortable. And after the day we both had I just want to hold you." Logan reached down and pulled Veronica back up to kiss her deeply.

"It's just that you must be used to certain things. Women who are more..." She waffled her hand back and forth.

Logan chuckled lightly, "I have never met another woman who had even half of what you do."

Veronica laughed harshly, sarcasm in her voice. "I'm sure."

"You don't believe me?"

"Come on Logan. This place—you—I'm not naïve, even if I'm on the inexperienced side. You have obviously been with a lot of women. This place alone is a panty dropper. You're probably used to dating models and socialites." Her voice sounded teasing but Logan could hear the insecurity.

"Veronica." He hugged her tightly, "The only thing I'm _used_ to is people only being interested in me, whether romantically or for friendship, because of who my father is or because they know I'm rich. I swear, being with you—you have no idea. I've never experienced anything like this before. These last few days, what we've shared, being with you is the best sex I have ever had." Logan blew out a breath and pushed his fingers through his hair. "But it's not just the sex." He kissed the crown of her head, running his fingers lightly up and down her spine. "There's something about you." He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips then reached for the spoon and scooped up more mousse.

"There's something about you, too." She said softly before accepting the bite of dessert.

When the mousse was gone, Logan led them back to his bedroom and curled himself around Veronica. He knew that they had a lot to figure out, but nothing sounded better to him at that moment than holding Veronica tightly and pushing away thoughts of everything else until the light of day wouldn't let them forget anymore_._

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much everyone for reading! And many thanks to BryroseA for her fantastic beta-ing and advice :)

I will put an update on this story when Part II gets posted, so if you are following this one you'll get a notification.


	6. Epilogue

"Veronica, is there a reason you decided we should go jogging this morning?" Logan yelled over the sound of traffic on the Bay Bridge above them.

"Well, I want to go…to the European bakery…and thought it would be good…to build up an appetite." She panted.

"Sure Bobcat, an appetite. We didn't have to practically sprint here to work one up. And Anderson's is like half a mile back that way." Logan adjusted his pace and pointed in the opposite direction they were running.

"I know that." She glared up at him as she slowed her pace down to a brisk walk, and then stopped at the entrance to a small dog park. "I thought we'd circle around and stop on our way back." She reached down to stretch out her muscles.

Logan couldn't help but stare at her ass as she pulled her head down between her knees. He stood mesmerized, watching her bend and twist using one of the metal benches to deepen her stretch. When she finally turned back to him, he didn't even try to look ashamed at being caught in the midst of a daydream-fantasy. He'd already made a mental list of all the things he planned to do with her when they got back home.

"Eyes up here, mister." She teased while fiddling with the pocket of her running shorts. "Oops." She paused when a small jump drive fell to the ground.

Logan bent down, picked it up, and turned it around in his palm. "Strange jogging accessory." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"No, that's a strange jogging accessory." She laughed and pointed at a dog that Logan was pretty sure was the product of a three-way between a dingo, an ocelot, and a porcupine.

Logan laughed with her, handing over the jump drive. "No kidding. You don't want to get a dog like that do you?"

"Who said anything about getting a dog?" She stuffed the drive into her pocket, hopped up and down a few times, and then took off up the street. "Loser buys!" She yelled over her shoulder.

Logan shook his head. _The things I do for love…_

* * *

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who have sent me messages over the last few months expressing their love for this story and excitement for the sequel. Your encouragement and support helped get me through a truly grueling summer.

And now what you've been waiting for! The sequel! FF, of course, won't let me put links so just pop on over to my profile. The sequel is called Breaking News. I can't wait to hear what you all think.


End file.
